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Janeway,  J.  J.  1774-1858 

Hope  for  the  Jews 


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HOPE  FOR  THE  JEWS 


OR, 


THE    JEWS    WILL    BE    CONVERTED 


CHRISTIAN  FAITH; 


SETTLED   AND  REORGANIZED   AS  A   NATION, 


LAND  OF  PALESTINE. 


By    J.    J.JANEWAY,     D.   D 


NEW  BRUNSWICK,  N.  J. 

PRESS  OF  J.  TERHUNE  AND  SON,  31  ALBANY  STREET. 

1853. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  C'oiigress,  in  the  Tcsr  185',  by 

J.  J.  JANE  WAY, 

la  tlie  Clerk's  Office  of  the  U.  S.  Court  for  the  District  of 

tho  ^tate  of  New-Jersey. 


CONTENTS. 

CKAPTi:;i    1.  Page  13 

Conversion  of  the  Jews — First,  ijroof — Nature  of  the 
Ahrahamic  covenant — Twofold  blessings — Twofold  seed 
— Sovereignty  and  Justice  of  God — Great  design  of  the 
covenant — Kcclesiastica! — Seminal  transmission  of  the 
blessings  of  Salvation — L'nreiealed. 

CIIAPTEM  II.  Page  30 

Second  Proof — Perpetuity  of  the  Covenant — Everlasting 
— State  of  the  Jews  wonderful — Reason — Quotation — 
Clinnge  of  Dispensation  gradual — Old  Covenant  complex 
— Heavy  burden  to  the  Jews — Penalty  of  exscision  could 
not  be  inflicted  by  Christian  Church — God  alone  could 
inflict  it — Season  of  forbearance — Error  of  Mr.  W. — Paul's 
judgment — Timothy  circumcised 

CHAPTER  HI.  Page  50 

Impediment  to  a  correct  interpretation  of  Kotn.  xi. — Re- 
sults of  Mr.  W.'s  plan  of  investigating  the  scriptures — 
First  result — Erroneous  views — He  fails  to  make  proper 
distinctions — Vile  character  of  the  Jews  by  JeremiaJi 
. — State  of  Gentiles — Paul's  character  before  conver- 
sion— Second  result — Paul's  view  of  heirs  of  the  promise 
— Penalty  cf  exscision  explained  in  regard  to  uncircumcis- 
ed  children^^In  regard  to  David — Individuals  and  a  City 
— When  idolatry  generally  prevailed  God  alone  could  in- 
flict the  penalty. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV.  Page  73 

God  has  a  visible  Church — Committed  to  fallible  men — 
Perfectly  pure  Church  never  existed — Children  members 
— Covenant  unchanged — Not  a  Will — Consequence  of  re- 
garding it  as  such — Promise  boundless  and  eternal 

CHAPTER  V.  Page  80 

The  New  covenant  not  opposed  to  the  Abrahamic — 
Why  called  New — Illustrated — Sets  aside  the  Old — Incip- 
ient fulfilment — More  glorious  fulfilment  future — Made 
with  the  visible  Church — Promises  not  to  be  taken  in  a 
literal  and  absolute  sense — Jeremiah  xxxi. — Line  of  suc- 
cession remains  in  the  Visible  Church. 

CHAPTER  VI.  Page  102 

Ample  discussion  of  the  subject  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans — Chapter  xi — Twelfth  verse — Jews  a  nation — 
Conversion  of  a  number  did  not  diminish  them — Ac- 
knowledged as  a  Nation  by  Paul,  A.  D.  61  and  63 — Ex- 
scision  not  till  A.  D.  70. — Then  diminished. 

CHAPTER  VII.  Page  119 

"  Their  fulness"  refers  to  Israel — Admission  of  Mr.  W. 
— His  singular  interpretation — Remarks  on  it — "  Life 
from  the  dead"  explained — Scripture  illustration  in  verse 
16th — McKnight's  note — Covenant  at  Sinai  did  not  orig- 
inate the  Visible  Church — Second  illustration — Neither 
Peter  nor  Paul  admitted  the  exscision  of  the  Jews  in  their 
day — "  Some  of  the  branches  broken  off"  explained — 
Fearful  condition  of  the  Church  at  Rome. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Page  140 

Conversion  of  the  Jews — Objections — Answered — Plain- 
ly taught  by  Paul  in  Rom.  xi. — Wonderful  Plan  of  Infinite 
Wisdom  and  Mercy — Confirmed  by  Paul's  teachings  in 
2  Cor.  iii.  12-18. 

CHAPTER  IX.  Page  151 

Restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land — Remarks  on 

paragraphs    of   Mr.    W. — Testiraoi.y    of   Moses— Deut. 

xviii.  15-19 — Deut,  xxviii.  explained — Quotation  from  Bp, 

Newton. 

CHAPTER  X.  Page  163 

Testimony  of  Moses  continued — Deut.  xxx.  1-1 1 — Ex- 
tract from  Mr.  W.'s  letters — Remarks  on  it — Plan  of  Sal- 
vation one  and  same  always — Difference  between  the 
former  and  present  dispensation — Mr.  W.  opposes  the 
plain  teaching  of  Moses. 

CHAPTER  XI.  Page  179 

Testimony  of  Hosea — Testimony  of  Isaiah. 

CHAPTER  XH.  Page  189 

Testimony  of  Jeremiah — Remarks  on  Chapters  xxx  and 
xxxi — Quotations  from  Drs.  Clarke,  Scott,  and  Lowth. 

CHAPTER  XIII.  Page  203 

Testimony  of  Ezekiel — Chaps,  xxxiv,  xxxv,  xxxvi, 
xxxvii. 

CHAPTER  XIV.  Page  215 

The  testimony  of  Christ — Luke  xxi.  24 — "  Jerusalem 


trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles" — When  will  they  cease  to 
tread  it  down  1 — Answer. 

CHAPTER  XV.  Page  218 

Questions  to  the  reader — Difficulties  nothing  to  the  Al- 
mighty— Past  miracles  in  favor  of  the  Jews — No  greater 
needed — A  more  abundant  effusion  of  the  Spirit  will  ac- 
complish God's  promises. 


APPENDIX  A.  Page  228 

The  Visible  Cht:rcii. 

1.  What  the   Confession   of  the   Presbyterian  Church 
teaches  in  regard  to  the  visible  Church. 

2.  Extracts  from  the  Home  and  Foreign  Record. 

3.  Relative  or  External  Holiness. 

APPENDIX   B.  Page  230 

Extracts  from  Br.  Newton's  Drs.sERTAT!o^'s  ox  the 
Prophecies. 


TO  THE   READER. 

As  the  Contents  and  Introduction^  al- 
though, set  np  in  type,  has  not  been  struck 
off,  the  Author  embraces  the  opportunity  of 
expressing  his  regret,  that  so  much  delay 
has  occurred  in  carrying  his  work  through 
the  press.  It  is  unnecessary  to  state  the  cir- 
cumstances. Safhce  it  to  say,  that,  after 
selecting  the  most  convenient  press,  and  de- 
livering a  portion  of  the  manuscript,  about 
the  close  of  June,  a  variety  of  concurring 
circumstances  beyond  control,  produced  de- 
lay, so  that  the  whole  of  the  manuscript 
up  to  a  part  of  Appendix,  had  not  been 
struck  off  and. presented  to  the  Author  for 
correction,  till  the  close  of  September.  On 
the  first  of  this  month  he  corrected  th©  last 
of  the  Appendix. 

J.  J.  JANEWAY. 
Monday,  October  3.  1853, 


INTEODUCTION. 

Desirous  of  employing  tlie  short  remnant 
of  his  life,  in  a  way  the  most  appropriate  to 
his  ministerial  vocation,  the  author  of  this 
little  volumn  had  engaged  in  the  study  of 
sacred  prophecy. 

The  prophetical  writings  constitute  a  large 
portion  of  the  Bible ;  and  the  command  of 
our  Divine  Master  to  "  search  the  scriptures," 
renders  it  an  imperative  duty  to  search  the 
prophetical  scriptures,  as  time  and  opportu- 
nity will  allow,  as  well  as  other  parts  of 
them. 

His  object  in  studying  the  prophecies  was 
to  endeavor,  in  their  light,  to  discover  the 
present  position  of  the  Church  of  God  ;  what 
lies  before  her,  and  what  she  is  authorized 
to  expect.  Had  he  proceeded  in  what  he 
designed   to   write   and   publish,  he  would 


INTRODUCTION.  H 

have  devoted  a  short  chapter  to  the  conside- 
ration of  the  case  of  the  Jews. 

But  he  was  interrupted  in  his  pourse  of 
study  :  first  by  domestic  affliction ;  then  by 
writing  and  printing,  mthout  pubhshing,  a 
memoir  of  his  dear  departed  companion,  for 
the  benefit  of  her  children  and  descendants ; 
and  afterwards  by  duties  imperiously  claim- 
ing his  attention. 

In  the  meantime,  "the  Letters  to  a  Millen- 
arian,  by  the  Kev.  Mr.  Williamson,"  were 
published.  Having  purchased  a  copy,  he 
read  it,  and  felt  grieved  at  its  tendency  to 
withdraw  Christians  from  praying  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews ;  which  the  writer 
had,  for  many  years,  regarded  as  an  impor- 
tant duty. 

More  than  forty  years  ago,  he  was  led,  by 
occurrences  in  Philadelphia,  to  study  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  to  discover  the  true 
basis  of  the  right  of  children  to  be  members 


10  INTRODUCnOK. 

of  the  visible  church,  and  to  baptism,  the 
new  token  of  that  unrepealed  covenant, 
under  the  Christian  dispensation.  The  re- 
sult of  his  study  was  published  in  1812,  in 
a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  members 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Phil- 
adelphia. These  letters  discussed,  first,  the 
nature  and  great  design  of  that  covenant ; — 
Secondly,  the  Divine  right  of  Inf  mts  to  bap- 
tism, and  thirdly,  the  mode  of  baptism. 

To  counteract  the  unhappy  tendency  of 
Mr.  W.'s  letters,  the  author  prepared  a  short 
exposition  of  his  own  views  of  the  case  of 
the  Jews  ;  and  was  on  the  point  of  publish- 
ing it.  Bat  occurrences,  which  he  regarded 
as  providential^  induced  him  to  withhold  it 
from  the  press  ;  and  led  him  to  believe  it  to 
be  his  duty  to  devote  more  time  and  pains  to 
this  interesting  subject.  Thus  the  discassion 
has  become  a  small  volume. 


mTRODUCTIOX.  11 

His  design  is  to  endeavor  to  establish  the 
following  important  points  : 

1.  That  the  Jews,  will,  as  a  people,  be  con- 
verted to  the  Christian  faith,  and  be  intro- 
duced into  the  Christian  Church. 

2.  That  they,  and  a  portion  of  the  Ten 
Tribes  of  Israel,  will  return  to  the  land  of 
their  forefathers,  and  there  be  reorganized 
as  a  single  and  united  nation  ;  acknowledging 
Christ  to  be  their  Messiah  and  king  ;  and 

3.  That,  after  being  established  in  the 
quiet  and  peaceful  possession  of  that  land, 
they  will  hold  it,  in  nndistnrbed  enjoyment, 
through  future  generations,  to  the  end  of  the 
world;  when  the  last  and  unsuccessful  as- 
sault will  be  made  on  the  Church  of  God,  by 
apostate  nations  deceived  by  Satan. 

In  this  work  will  be  found  an  exposition 
of  the  three  covenants ;  in  regard  to  w^hich 
Mr.  W.^s  views  appear  to  be  vagu'^,  incorrectj  - 
and  confused. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

The  author  would  willingly  have  avoided 
any  particular  notice  of  the  above  named 
letters.  But  this  he  found  a  due  regard 
to  truth  would  not  allow.  It  became 
necessary  to  remove  an  impediment  which 
they  had  thrown  in  the  way  of  a  cor- 
rect interpretation  of  the  inspired  writers, 
both  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testaments, 
in  reference  to  the  purposes  of  God  towards 
His  ancient  covenant  people. 

In  some  remarks  on  his  letters,  there  may 
appear  severity.  But,  it  is  hoped,  the  reader 
will  ascribe  it  to  the  nature  of  the  case,  and 
believe  the  author  could  not  withhold  them, 
consistently  with  a  firm  adherence  to  the  par- 
amount claims  of  scriptural  truth. 


HOPE  FOR  THE  JEWS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Conversion  of  the  Jews — First  proof— Nature  of  the 
Abrahamic  Covenant — Twofold  blessings — Twofold  seed 
— Sovereignty  and  Justice  of  God — Great  design  of  the 
Covenant — Ecclesiastical — Seminal  transmission  of  the 
blessings  of  Salvation — Unrepealed. 

FIRST  POSITION. 

The  Jews  will  be  converted  as  a  people,  to  the 
Christian  faith . 

How  delightful  tlie  prospect !  What  chris- 
tian acquainted  with  the  history  of  this 
wonderful  people,  and  reflecting  that  God 
was  pleased  to  use  them  as  the  channel  of 
communicating  to  us  such  inestimable  bene- 
fits, as  the  birth  of  our  Eedeemer— the 
oracles  of  God  and  all  their  precious  promi- 
ses— and  the  church  under  its  new  and  more 
spiritual  organization ;  will  not  rejoice  to 
2 


14  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

learn,  from  the  sacred  scriptures,  that  God 
has  revealed  to  us  his  purpose,  of  restoring 
his  wandering  people,  "beloved  for  the 
father's  sake,"  (Rom.  xi.  28,)  to  an  interest  in 
that  "  better  covenant  which  was  established 
on  better  promises  ?"  (IIeb.  viii.  6.) 

But  is  this  taught  by  inspired  writers  as 
a  truth?  Blessed  be  God  it  is;  and  we 
may  indulge  our  faith  in  contemplating  the 
delightful  union ;  which,  we  believe.  He 
who  is  faithfal  to  His  word  and  covenant, 
will  not  fail  to  realize. 

Long  indeed,  and  for  ages,  nearly  eigh- 
teen hundred  years,  have  they  been  disowned 
by  God  as  his  covenant  people,  expelled 
from  that  goodly  land,  which  God  gave  them 
for  an  inheritance,  and  for  "  an  everlasting pos- 
session^  (Gen.  xvii.  8.)  His  power  and  grace 
are  sufficient  to  accomplish  all  that  He  has 
promised. 

FIRST  PROOF. 

The  first  proof  in  support  of  our  position, 
ghall  be  drawn  from  the  covenant  which 
God  condescended  to  make  with  their  father 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  15 

Abraham.  It  is  recorded  in  the  17tli  chap- 
ter of  Genesis. 

That  the  force  of  the  proof  drawn  from 
this  covenant  may  be  felt,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  consider  its  nature. 

This  covenant  contained  both  spiritual 
and  temporal  blessings. 

I.  It  contained  spiritual  blessing.  This 
appears  evidently  from  the  7th  verse  :  "  and 
I  will  establish  my  covenant  between  me 
and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  TO 
BE  A  God  unto  thee^  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee^ 

The  natural  import  of  this  great  promise, 
looks  far  beyond  and  above  any  temporal 
blessings,  which  God  ever  bestowed  on  the 
Patriarch  or  his  seed.  A  more  glorious 
promise  could  not  be  expressed  in  the  lan- 
guage of  mortals.  To  be  a  God  unto 
THEE !  It  comprehends  the  richest  prom- 
ises in  the  Bible.  Its  comprehensive  fullness 
is  well  expressed  in  the  words  of  David  ^ 
"  For  the  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  a  shield ; 
the  Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory ;   no 


16  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

good  thing  will  lie  withhold  from  them  that 
walk  uprightly."    (Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11.) 

That  this  promise  is  to  be  taken  in  this 
enlarged  and  unlimited  sense,  is  manifest 
from  the  consideration,  that  Abraham  was, 
when  the  covenant  was  made  with  him,  a 
true  believer,  and  looked  to  his  promised 
seed,  the  Messiah^  for  salvation.  How,  then, 
could  he  have  supposed,  that  this  highest 
style  of  covenant  language,  could  merely 
relate  to  temporal  blessings,  to  be  conferred 
on  himself  and  his  seed  ?  These  inferior 
blessings,  are  promised  in  the  subsequent  part 
of  the  covenant.     (See  verse  8th.) 

The  Apostle  Paul  tells  us  how  Abraham 
understood  this  great  promise  of  the  cove- 
nant. By  it  the  Patriarch  was  led  to  "  desire 
a  better  country  that  is  an  heavenly  ;"  (Heb. 
xi.  16  ;•)  and  the  Apostle  further  says,  K 
God  had  not  prepared  for  him  "  a  city, 
which  hath  foundations  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God,"  He  would  have  been 
''  ashamed  to  be  called  his  God."  Compare 
(Heb.  xi.  16  with  10  verse,  and  from  8  to  16  \ 


ABRAHAMIC    COVENANT.  17 

In  this  covenant  Abraham  was  constituted 

the  FATHER  OF  ALL  TRUE  BELIEVERS,  down 

to  the  end  of  time.  This  is  taught  exphc- 
itly  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the 
Eomans;  (chap.  iv.  11,  12  ;)  and  further  the 
Apostle  teaches,  that  he  was  thus  constituted 
their  father,  "that  the  promise  niight  be 
sure  to  all  the  seed."     (vs.  13—16.) 

In  this  covenant  Abraham  was  made  a 
father  of  many  nations.  (See  Gen.  xvii.  4—6.) 
Several  nations  did  descend  naturally  from 
this  illustrious  Patriarch,  and  the  covenant 
may  have  respect  to  them.  But,  when  we 
consider  him  as  the  father  of  all  believers  to 
the  end  of  time ;  and  that,  in  the  millenial 
period,  all  nations,  as  such,  will  be  brought 
under  the  operation  of  this  covenant,  how 
our  views  of  this  title  become  enlarged  ;  and 
the  import  ol  the  words  of  Grodto  him,  quoted 
by  Paul,  "  so  shall  thy  seed  be,"  is  expanded! 
(Gen.  XV.  6,  and  Rom.  iv.  18.) 

II.  The  covenant  contained  temporal  or 
external  blessings.  The  promise  in  Gen.  xvii. 
V.  8,  is  this  :   "  And  I  will  give  unto  thee  and 


18  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

to  thy  seed  after  thee,  the  land  wherein  thou 
art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of  Canaan  for  an 
everlasting  possession ;  and  I  will  be  their 
God."  All  who  had  impressed  on  them 
circumcision^  the  token  or  seal  of  the  cove- 
nant, were  brought  into  a  peculiar  relation 
to  God.  He  became  their  God  in  a  lower 
sense ;  in  consequence  of  which  thej  had 
the  enjoyment  of  important  privileges.  They 
were  favored  with  the  instructions  of  the 
well-informed  and  pious  head  of  the  cove- 
nant, who  did  not  fail  to  explain  to  them  its 
nature ;  to  teach  them  how  they  might 
secure  an  interest  in  its  great  spiritual  bless- 
ings, and  have  God  to  be  a  God  unto  them, 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  promise.  In 
Gen.  xviii.  17 — 19,  it  is  written,  "And  the 
Lord  said,  shall  I  hide  from  Abraham  that 
thing  which  I  do ;  seeing  that  Abraham  shall 
surely  become  a  great  and  mighty  nation,  and 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed  in 
him?'  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command 
his  children  and  his  household  Sifter  him,  and 
they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  19 

justice  and  judgement ;  that  the  Lord  may 
bring  upon  Abraham  that  which  he  hath 
spoken  of  him."  His  servants  as  well  as  his 
children  were  circumcised  ;  and  certainly  it 
was  a  distinguished  favor  to  all  who  were 
brought  into  the  covenant  of  the  Patriarch, 
to  have  secured  to  them  the  signal  benefit 
of  his  wise  instructions  and  holy  example. 
Doubtless  he  told  them  he  himself  desired 
and  sought  a  better  country,  than  the  land 
promised,  in  which  they  sojourned ;  and 
a  city  far  more  to  be  desired  than  any  on 
earth,  a  city  in  heaven ;  and  taught  them  to 
imitate  his  example,  and  not  to  be  satisfied 
with  any  temporal  benefits  of  their  cove- 
nant relation  to  God. 

In  a  preceding  chapter,  it  is  written, 
*'  and  God  said  unto  him,  Know  of  a  surety 
that  thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land 
that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  serve  them ;  and 
they  shall  afflict  them  four  hundred  years. 
But  in  the  fourth  generation  they  shall  come 
hither  again  ;  for  the  iniquities  of  the  Amo- 
rites  is  not  yet  full."  (vs.  13,  16.)     Apprized 


20  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

of  tliis  revelation  none  of  his  descendants 
could  expect  to  gain  possession  of  tlie  prom- 
ised land,  till  tlie  expiration  of  this  period 
so  positively  set. 

III.  Corresponding  to  the  two-fold  bless- 
ings of  the  covenant,  there  was  a  twofold 
seed ;  natural  and  sjm^itual,  or  children  by 
bii^th  and  the  children  of  promise.  See  this 
distinction  among  the  seed  of  Abraham  illus- 
trated by  Paul  in  his  epistle  to  the  G-alatiaus. 
(chap.  iv.  28 — 31.)  And  the  same  important 
truth  is  illustrated,  by  the  pen  of  this  great 
Apostle,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  where 
he  says,  "  For  he  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one 
outwardly;  neither  is  that  circumcision, 
which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a 
Jew,  which  is  one  inwardly  ;  and  circumcis- 
ion is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not 
in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men, 
but  of  God.''  (chap.  ii.  28,  29.) 

And  our  Lord,  in  his  controversy  with 
the  Jews,  recorded  by  John  in  the  8th  chap- 
ter of  his  Gospel,  adverting  to  the  same 
distinction,  admits  in  verse  87,  they  were 


ABRAHAMIC    COVENANT.  21 

"Abraham's  seed  ;"  yet  in  the  89  verse,  de- 
nies they  were  Abraham's  children.  He 
reproaches  them  as  being  the  children  of  the 
devil,  and  assigns  the  proof,  (vs.  41 — 44:.) 

SOVEREIGNTY   OF   GOD. 

IV.  In  conferring  both  the  temporal  and 
the  spiritual  blessings  of  his  covenant,  Jeho- 
vah always  exercised  his  sovereign  pleasure, 
and  bestowed  them  on  whom  he  chose. 

When  Abraham  was  called  by  God, 
he  lived  among  idolaters,  and  may  have 
been  previously  an  idolater  himself.  God 
was  under  no  obligation  to  call  him  and 
afterwards  constitute  him  head  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  make  to  him  and  to  his  posterity 
such  great  and  Avonderful  jDromises.  He 
might  have  selected  some  other  man  and  his 
posterity,  on  whom  to  confer  his  signal 
favors  and  most  distinguishing  honors.  Of 
the  millions  then  living  He  was  pleased  to 
choose  Abraham  ;  and  to  take  him  and  his 
offspring  into  covenant,  for  the  purpose  of 
conveying  unnumbered  blessings  on  future 
nations  and  generations  of  mankind. 


22  CONVERSION  OF  THE   JEWS. 

His  son  Ishmael  "  after  the  flesh,"  and 
"  by  the  bond  woman,"  although  circumcis- 
ed was  cast  out  of  the  covenant ;  and  Isaac, 
"  the  son  of  the  free  woman,  and  by  prom- 
ise," was  constituted  his  heir. 

Jacob  obtained,  by  fraud,  from  his  father 
Isaac  the  blessing  of  primogeniture ;  and 
Esau,  the  elder,  was  deprived  of  it,  and 
could  not  obtain  it,  though  he  earnestly 
sought  with  tears  to  produce  a  change  in  his 
father's  mind.  Such  was  the  sovereign  will 
of  God,  who  had  foretold  this  occurrence  to 
their  mother,  Rebecca,  when  He  told  her 
before  their  birth,  "  The  elder  shall  serve 
the  younger."  (Rom.  ix.  10 — 14.) 

What  was  there  in  the  condition  and 
character  of  Jacob's  posterity,  when  God 
commissioned  Moses  to  deliver  them  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  to  dispose  Him  to  call 
them,  "  my  people,"  (Ex.  iii.  7,)  and  to  com- 
mand him  to  deliver  this  message  to  Phara- 
oh :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a  feast 
unto  me  in  the  wilderness?"  (Ex.  v.  11.) 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  23 

What  had  they  done  to  merit  the  wonderful 
miracles  that  were  wrought  by  the  Almighty 
to  effect  their  triumphant  deliverance  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  and  to  open  for  them  a 
passage,  as  on  dry  land,  through  the  Bed 
sea?  And  why  did  Jehovah  say  to  that 
perverse  generation  in  the  wilderness?  "I 
will  set  my  tabernacle  among  j^ou ;  and  will 
not  abhor  you.  And  I  will  walk  among 
you,  and  v»dll  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be 
my  people."  (Levit.  xxvi.  11,  12.)  Yet  this 
generation  of  Israel ites,  whom  God  was  pleas- 
ed to  denominate  his  people,  for  whom  he 
wrought  such  wonders  in  Eg^'pt  and  at  the 
Red  sea,  and  with  whom  he  condescended  to 
talk,  with  an  audible  voice,  from  Mount 
Sinai,  and  there  to  enter  into  a  solemn  na- 
tional covenant ;  failed  to  reach  the  promised 
land,  although  led  by  Moses  to  its  very  bord- 
ers, and  commanded  to  go  forward,  and  take 
possession  of  the  goodly  inheritance.  Spies 
were  sent  to  search  out  the  land,  twelve 
princes  among  the  tribes.  They  brought 
an  evil  report,  of  the  strength  of  the  cities. 


24  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

and  the  great  stature  of  tlie  inliabitants. 
The  people  became  frightened  at  the  report, 
and  refused  to  advance.  The  sentence  went 
forth  from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah;  they 
were  doomed  to  wander  in  the  wilderness 
forty  years^  till  every  one  of  that  murmuring 
and  rebellious  generation  had  died,  except- 
ing Joshua  and  Caleb,  who  had  been  faithful 
and  obedient.  (Deut.  i.  34 — 40.) 

The  next  generation,  after  the  death  of 
their  fathers,,  were  led  by  Joshua  into  the 
land  of  Canaan.  They  are  regarded  by 
some  as  the  best  generation  of  the  Isrselites. 
Of  them  Moses  says,  (Deut.  iv.  4.)  "  But  ye 
that  did  cleave  unto  the  Lord  your  God,  are 
alive  every  one  of  you  this  day."  They 
gave  a  remarkable  proof  of  confidence  in 
God,  when,  after  crossing  Jordan  and  being 
near  to  Jericho,  they  so  readily  submitted  to 
the  painful  right  of  circumcision,  that,  for 
a  time,  disabled  them  from  fighting,  and  ex- 
posed them  to  defeat,  if  attacked  by  their 
enemies. 

When  settled  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  be- 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  25 

sides  possessing  a  goodly  inheritance,  the 
natural  descendants  of  the  Patriarch  enjoyed 
what  was  far  more  valuable  ;  the  oracles  of 
God — the  instructions  of  inspired  prophets 
— the  examples  of  the  pious — the  worship 
of  the  tabernacle,  and  afterwards  of  the 
temple, — and  His  watchful  and  powerful 
protection,  while  they  were  obedient. 

But  neither  their  covenant  relation  to 
God,  nor  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
their  external  benefits,  valuable  as  they  cer- 
tainly were,  could  give  to  any  of  Abraham's 
natural  seed  an  interest  in  the  spiritual  bless- 
ings contained  in  the  great  covenant  promise, 
*' to  be  a  God  to  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee." 

Many  of  that  generation,  led  by  Joshua 
into  Canaan,  were  probably  pious,  having  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  and  consequently  an  in- 
terest in  the  spiritual  blessings ;  but  how 
many  we  cannot  determine.  The  two  kinds 
of  the  covenant  benefits  were  distinct  and 
different  in  their  respective  natures,  and  by 
no  means  inseparably  connected.  In  subse- 
quent ages,   millions  enjoyed  the  one,  who 


2d  conversion  of  the  jews. 

never  enjoyed  tlie  other.  From  the  history 
of  that  people,  it  appears,  that,  while  they 
abstained  from  idolatry  and  were  obedient 
to  their  laws,  they  were  always  prosperous ; 
but  this  state  of  things  implied  invariably 
the  presence  of  many  sincerely  pious,  who 
walked  in  the  steps  of  their  father  Abraham, 
and,  like  him,  looked  for  a  heavenly  inheri- 
tance, to  be  conferred  on  them,  through  his 
great  promised  seed,  the  Messiah.  Millions 
lived  as  circumcised  Israelites,  and  were 
acknowledged  as  members  of  the  visible 
church,  who  never  became  members  of  the 
invisible  church  ;  and  consequently  died  in 
their  sins.  They  were  like  those  whom  our 
Lord  denominated  "children  of  the  king- 
dom" and  yet  "  cast  out  into  outer  darkness." 
(Mat.  viii.  11,  12.) 

JUSTICE   OF  GOD. 

V.  God  acts  as  a  sovereign  in  the  bestow- 
ment  of  all  his  favors  ;  but  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten, that  his  sovereignty  is  always 
exercised  in  perfect  accordance  with  justice- 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  27 

Was  Ishraasl  cast  out  of  the  covenant  ?  He 
was  a  persecutor  of  Isaac  who  was  "born  after 
the  Spirit."  (Gal.  iv.  29.)  Was  Esau  deprived 
of  the  blessing  ?  He  was  "  a  profane  person," 
"  who  for  one  morsel  of  meat  sold  his  birth- 
right. (Heb.  xii.  16.)  Was  the  generation 
led  out  of  Egypt,  whom  God  condescended 
to  style  "my  people;"  and  for  whom  He 
had  wrought  such  wonders — with  Avhom  He 
talked  from  heaven,  and  among  whom  He 
promised  "  to  walk  and  to  be  their  God  ;" 
doomed  to  wander  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  perish  in  it  ?  Justice  demanded 
the  punishment,  on  account  of  their  repeated 
rebellions  against  a  merciful  and  forbearing 
God. 

Thus  Jehovah  has  acted,  and  always  will 
act  towards  those  who  live  under  this  cov- 
enant, as  a  sovereign  and  just  God.  If  any 
fail  to  obtain  salvation  and  perish  in  their 
sins,  it  will  be  owing  to  their  own  unbelief 
and  perverseness.  "  Ye  will  not"  said  our 
Redeemer,  "  come  to  me,  that  ye  may  have 
life."  (John  v.  40.) 


28  CONVEKSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

ECCLESIASTICAL   COVENANT. 

VI.  The  Abrahamic  covenant  contained, 
and  exhibited  the  covenant  of  grace ;  but  it 
was  an  ecclesiastical  covenant ;  having 
for  its  great  design  the  organization  of  a  visi- 
ble  church,  in  the  family  of  that  iDustrious 
Patriarch,  as  a  nursery  for  the  invisible 
church ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  transmit  the 
blessings  of  salvation  seminally  to  the  end 
of  time.  Accordingly  the  history  of  the 
church  proves,  that,  in  every  age,  the  pious, 
the  friends  of  God,  have  been  found  among 
his  natural  offspring,  and  the  natural  off- 
spring of  Gentile  believers,  introduced,  in 
conformity  with  the  original  provisions  of 
the  covenant,  as  his  spiritual  seed,  and  "  heirs 
according  to  the  promise."  (Gab  iii.  29.) 

Thus  it  has  been,  and  thus  it  will  be,  to 
the  end  of  time.  In  expounding  this  cove- 
nant, the  Apostle  says,  "  Therefore  it  is  of 
faith,  that  it  might  be  by  grace ;  to  the  end 
the  promise  might  be  sm^e  to  all  the  seed ; 
not  to  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  but  to 
that  also  which  is  of  the  faith  of  Abraham ; 
who  is  the  father  of  us  all.  "(Rom.  iv.  16.) 


COVENANT   UNREPEALED.  29 

VII.  And  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  tliat  this 
covenant  remains  unrepealed  in  any  of  its 
provisions,- as  the  Apostle  proves,  both  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  in  his  epistle  to 
the  Galatians.  Gentile  believers  come  into 
it  with  their  children^  who  are  now  entitled 
to  baptism,  the  ncAv token  or  seal  of  it;  just, 
as  in  former  days,  the  children  of  the  Jews 
were  entitled  to  circumcision,  the  first  token 
or  seal.  Here,  in  fact,  is  the  right  of  chiMre^i 
to  hajAism  to  be  founded.  God  gave  to 
children  a  right  to  the  seal  of  the  covenant, 
which  He  never  revoked.  It  is  a  divine 
right. 

Those  who  wish  to  see  a  larger  discussion 
of  this  important  subject,  may  find  it  in  a 
book  published  by  the  writer,  in  1812  ;  en- 
titled "  Letters  explaining  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  with  a  view  to  establish  on  this 
broad  and  ancient  basis  the  divine  right  of 
infant  bajytism;  addressed  to  the  members  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Phila- 
delphia." 


CHAPTER  IT. 

ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT. 

Second  Proof— Perpetuity  of  the  Covenant — Everlast- 
ing— State  of  the  Jews  wonderful — Reason — Quotation — 
Change  of  Dispensation  gradual — Old  Covenant  complex 
— Heavy  burden  to  the  Jews — Penally  of  exscision  could 
not  be  inflicted  by  Christian  Church — God  alone  could 
*nflict  it — Season  of  forbearance — Error  of  Mr.  W. — 
Paul's  judgement — Timothy  circumcised. 

In  explaining  the  nature  of  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant,  it  has  been  shown,  that  it 
contained  both  sjjiritual  and  temporal  bless- 
ings ; — and  that  in  correspondence  with  this 
two-fold  kind  of  blessings,  there  was  intro- 
duced into  the  covenant  a  two-fold  seed,  to 
which  they  respectively  belonged; — that 
Abraham,  the  constituted  head  or  father  of 
the  covenant,  understood  the  great  promise 
of  it  as  relating  to  spiritual  blessings,  and 
accordingly  looked  for  a  better  countr}^  than 
that  of  Canaan,  a  heavenly  inheritance  ; — 


ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.  81 

that,  in  the  bestowment  of  both  kinds  of  its 
blessings,  God  has  exercised,  and  ever  will 
exercise,  his  sovereignty^  though  in  perfect 
accordance  with  his  justice  ;  that  this  cove- 
nant contained  and  exhibited  the  covenant  of 
grace,  and  is  an  ecclesiastical  covenant ;  having 
for  its  great  design  the  organization  of  the 
visible  church,  in  the  Patriarch's  family,  as  a 
nursery  to  the  invisible  church,  or  in  other 
words  the  transmission  of  saving  blessings 
.SEMINALLY  to  the  end  of  time;  and  that 
while  the  apostle  Paul  proves,  both  in  his 
epistle  to  the  Komans,  and  in  that  to  the 
Galatians,  its  continued  existence,  he  gives 
no  intimation  of  its  being  repealed  in  any  of 
its  provisions. 

Mr.  Williamson,  while  he  admits  the  per- 
petuity of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  has 
incautiously  and  without  proof,  laid  it  down 
as  a  rule,  that  "the  line  of  succession  or 
heirship,  is  to  be  found  not  in  the  churchy  as 
under  the  old  covenant,  but  only  in  true 
believers,  as  foretold  by  Jeremiah  xxxi.  81.'* 
(p.  8.)  Here  we  shall  only  observe  in  regard  to 


32  CONVEESION  OF  THE  JEWS.  . 

this  great  error,  which  goes  to  exclude*  the 
children  of  believers  from  a  covenant  dela- 
tion with  God,  and  to  deprive  them  of  a  right 
baptism,,  that  the  line  of  succession  to  spirit- 
ual blessings  and  right  to  circumcision,  were 
not  established  b j  the  old  covenant  or  law  of 
Moses,  but  by  the  Abrahamic  covenant ; 
which  was  not  repealed  in  any  provision  by 
the  new  covenant  of  which  Jeremiah  speaks. 
"Moses,  said  our  Lord  to  the  Jews,  there- 
fore gave  unto  you  circumcision ;  (not  be- 
cause it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the  fathers ;)  and 
ye  on  the  Sabbath  day  circumcise  a  man." 

Of  all  the  covenants  the  ideas  of  Mr.  'W. 
appear  to  be  vague.  He  fails  to  make  the 
correct  and  necessary  distinctions.  This 
will  hereafter  be  proved. 

From  the  nature  of  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant, then,  we  infer  its  perpetuity.  "  This 
gracious  constitution,"  (to  use  the  writer's 
own  language  in  his  letters,)  was  intended 
by  its  glorious  author,  not  merely  to  answer  a 
temporary  purpose,  and  last  while  the  Mosaic 
economy  continued ;  but  to  endure  as  long 


ABEAHAMIC   COVENANT.  33 

as  the  sun  and  moon,  and  bless  his  church 
with  heavenly  influence,  till  He  translate 
her  from  earth  to  heaven." 

This  is  our  first  argument  to  prove  that 
the  Jews  will  be  converted  as  a-peojAe.  I  am 
aware  of  what  reply  might  be  made  to  this 
argument,  on  the  supposition  that  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson's theory  is  true.  But  what  will 
become  of  the  reply,  when  its  foundation  is 
subverted?  In  the  mean  time,  we  shall 
proceed  on  the  plan  of  exhibiting  our  own 
views  first,  which  we  think  will  gain  strength 
as  we  advance. 

SECOND    PROOF. 
Perpetuity  of  the  Covenant. 

It  is  expressly  called  everlasting. 

Here  the  writer  may  be  permitted  to  use 
his  own  language  uttered  by  him  more  than 
forty  years  ago. 

"I  will  establish  my  covenant  between 
me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant  TO 
BE  A  God  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after 


34  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

thee."  This  term,  it  is  admitted,  has  some- 
times a  more  limited  sense,  and  is  connected 
with  things  which  last  only  for  several  ages- 
It  is  applied  to  the  priesthood  of  Aaron, 
and  to  the  great  annual  atonement  for  the 
Jewish  people ;  both  of  which  have  long  since 
been  abolished.  But  it  will  not  follow,  from 
this  application  of  the  term,  in  these  two  in- 
stances, and  in  others  of  a  similar  kind,  that  it 
should  be  understood,  in  the  same  limited 
sense,  in  its  application  to  the  Abrahamic 
covenant.  It  certainly  is  applied  to  objects 
as  lasting  as  time,  and  to  objects  absolutely 
eternal.  We  read  of  the  everlasting  hills, 
the  everlasting  mountains,  the  everlasting 
remembrance  of  the  righteous;  everlasting 
life,  everlasting  kindness,  the  everlasting 
God.  Why  then  should  we  not  understand 
this  term,  in  its  application  to  the  covenant, 
as  expressing  perpetuity  ?  WJiat  just  reason 
can  be  offered  for  taking  it  in  a  more  limited 
sense  ?  Will  it  be  said,  the  term  is  applied 
to  the  land  of  promise,  from  which  the  de- 
scendants of  Abraham  have  for  ages,  been 


ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.  35 

expelled ;  and  tliat,  therefore,  the  covenant 
ought  not  to  be  considered  as  being  perpetual, 
any  more  than  the  possession  of  the  land  of 
Canaan  ?" 

"  We  reply,  Before  a  solid  objection  can 
be  founded  on  this  application  of  the  term,  it 
behooves  those  who  urge  it  to  prove,  that  the 
Jewish  people  shall  never  return  to  their 
ancient  land,  and  occupy  again  the  inheri- 
tance from  which,  on  account  of  their  crimes, 
they  have  been  ejected.  Their  expulsion 
from  it  no  more  proves  the  grant  to  have 
terminated,  at  that  dreadful  period  when 
they  became  vagabonds  over  the  earth,  than 
their  former  exile,  under  the  Babylonish 
captivity,  proved  the  term  of  donation  to  be 
then  expired ;  unless  it  can  be  clearly 
evinced,  that  they  shall  never  return  to  their 
own  country.  Can  this  be  done  ?  Can  sat- 
isfactory proof  be  derived  from  the  present 
state  of  this  unhappy  people  ?  They  are 
indeed  like  dry  bones.  But  the  same  Al- 
mighty power,  which  made  them  live  when 
they  themselves  thought  deliverance  impos- 


S6  CONVERSION  OF  THE   JEWS. 

sible,  and  that  there  was  no  more  hope  of 
their  being  reorganized  into  a  nation  in  their 
own  land,  than  of  bones,  dry  and  bleached 
with  the  sun,  being  raised  to  life  again ;  can, 
with  perfect  ease,  breathe  on  them,  and  cause 
them  to  live  ;  collect  them  out  of  all  coim- 
tries  whither  they  have  been  driven,  and 
reestablish  them  in  the  country  of  their  fore- 
fathers, in  greater  power  and  glory  than 
ever.  Indeed  their  present  state  renders.it 
probable,  that  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac, 
and  of  Jacob,  their  illustrious  progenitors, 
pitying  their  miseries,  will  at  length  redeem 
them  out  of  the  hands  of  all  their  enemies. 
For  what  purpose  have  they  been,  so  many 
ages,  preserved,  amid  innumerable  hard- 
ships, a  separate  people  ?  No  other  nation, 
in  similar  circumstances,  ever  retained  their 
distinctive  character.  All  captives  have, 
sooner  or  later,  lost  the  marks  which  distin- 
guished them,  and  become  incorporated  with 
their  conquerors.  But  the  Jews,  notwith- 
standing all  attempts  by  Christian  nations  to 
destroy  them  as  a  people,  have,  in  spite  of 


ABRAHAMIC   COVENANT.  37 

the  greatest  and  most  cruel  severity  employ- 
ed to  subdue  them,  retained  their  distinct 
character,  sentiments,  and  worship.  How 
visible  the  finger  of  Jehovah  in  this  phe- 
nomenon !  For  what  purpose  this  unusual 
interposition  ?  Why  has  Grod,  by  his  prov- 
idence, preserved  them  as  a  separate  people  ? 
Only  to  render  their  conversion  the  more  con- 
spicuous and  remarkable,  and  then  to  amal- 
gamate them  with  other  Christian  nations  ? 
Or  is  it  his  intention  to  restore  them  to  their 
former  inheritance,  as  well  as  to  convert 
them  to  the  faith  of  Christ  ?  If  we  consult 
the  history  of  this  wonderful  people,  and  the 
marvellous  deliverances  effected  for  them  in 
times  past,  there  appears  nothing  incredible 
in  an  expectation  of  theii'  return  to  their  own 
land.  The  preservation  of  them  as  a  separate 
people,  evidently  encourages  it."  pp.  50 — 53. 
Here  the  author,  in  his  former  publication, 
adduces  particular  prophecies  in  confirma- 
tion of  his  views.  But  in  this,  before  he 
proceeds  to  that  part  of  his  proof,  he  will 
present  the  reader  with  the  evidence  which 
2- 


38  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

the  apostle  Paul  fiirnislies  tis  for  believing  the 
Jews  will,  as  a  people,  be  converted  to  the 
faith  of  Christ,  and  brought  into  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

Previously  to  this,  however,  it  will  be 
proper  to  look  at  the  condition  of  the  Jews, 
during  the  period  intervening  between  the 
death  of  Christ  and  the  actual  infliction  of 
the  penalty  they  had  incurred,  by  crucifying 
and  afterwards  persisting  in  rejecting  Him, 
by  the  Providence  of  God. 

The  generation  in  which  the  Saviour  was 
born,  were  very  corrupt  and  wicked ;  and 
to  punish  them  the  Romans  had  already 
been  permitted  to  reduce  them  to  a  state  of 
subjection  to  their  empire,  though  they  were 
allowed,  in  a  great  measure,  to  govern  them- 
selves by  their  own  laws,  and  to  retain  their 
peculiar  worship.  The  sceptre  had  not  de- 
parted from  Judah;  but  it  was  shattered. 
"  The  kingdom  of  God,"  said  our  Lord,  "shall 
be  taken  from  you,  and  be  given  to  a  nation 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof  (Mat.  xxi. 
43.) 


ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.  39 

It  was  not  then  taken  from  them.  The 
church  still  remained  with  them.  And  after 
his  resurrection,  the  Redeemer  directed  his 
Apostles  to  remain  at  Jerusalem,  until  they 
received  the  promise  of  the  Father,  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  qualify  them  for  their 
work ;  He  also  commanded  them  to  begin 
their  ministry,  by  preaching  the  Gospel  first 
at  Jerusalem.  (Acts  i.  4 — 8.)  They  did  so  ; 
and  continued,  for  a  considerable  time,  to 
preach  only  to  the  Jews  ;  being  unacquain- 
ted with  the  extent  of  their  commission,  until 
Peter  was  taught,  by  a  remarkable  vision, 
that  it  was  lawful  and  proper  to  preach  to 
the  Gentiles,  and  freely  associate  with  them. 
See  Acts  tenth  chapter. 

The  change  contemplated  by  infinite  wis- 
dom in  regard  to  the  church,  was  gradually 
brought  about.  It  comprized  the  abolition 
of  the  old  covenant  and  the  introduction  of 
the  ncAV,  as  well  as  a  new  token  or  seal  of 
the  Abrahamic  covenant.  The  accomplish- 
ment of  this  purpose  required  time,  and  a 
season  of  forbearance  towards  the  Jews. 


40  CHANGE    OF    DISPENSATION. 

At  the  death  of  Christ  and  his  resurrec- 
tion, the  typical  part  of  the  old  covenant 
virtually  lost  its  binding  power  on  the  church. 
This  is  illustrated  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the 
eighth^  ninth^  and  tenth  chapters  of  his  epistle 
to  the  Hehreivs. 

But  the  whole  of  that  covenant  was  not 
abolished. 

It  was  complex  ;  comprising  moral,  ecclesi- 
astical, civil,  SiJid  judicial  laws. 

This  will  appear  to  any  one  who  carefully 
reads  the  four  books  of  Moses,  Exodus,  Le- 
viticus, Numbers  and  Deuteronoray . 

This  covenant  was  not  designed,  originally 
to  come  in  place  of,  or  to  supersede,  or  alter, 
but  to  subserve,  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 
So  Paul  expressly  teaches,  in  his  epistle  to 
the  Galatians ;  and  that  "  the  law  was 
our  school-master  to  bring  us  unto  Christ, 
that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith."  See 
the  third  chapter. 

The  moral  law  required  from  the  Jews 
what  it  ever  did,  and  ever  will,  require  from 
all  men,  supreme  love  to  God  and  perfect 


GRADUAL.  41 

love  to  our  neiglibor.  Compare  wliat  our 
Lord  said  to  a  lawyer  who  inquired,  "  Master, 
wliich  is  the  great  commandment  in  the 
law  ?  (Mat.  xxii.  36—39.)  with  what  Moses 
said  God  required  of  Israel ;  (Deut.  x.  12, 
13  ;)  and  you  will  see  the  same  perfect  obe- 
dience was  required  under  the  Old  that  is 
now  required  under  the  New  covenant.  The 
moral  law  has  been  the  great  rule  of  obedience 
in  every  covenant ;  and  from  the  demand  of 
perfect  obedience  no  one  can  be  freed. 
Every  deviation  from  this  most  perfect  rule, 
ever  has  been,  and  ever  will  be,  sin. 

Here  may  be  introduced  a  passage  from 
Mr.  Williamson's  letters  to  show  how  incor- 
rect his  language  is,  and  what  wrong  impres- 
sions it  may  make  on  uninformed  minds. 

"  In  this  consisted  the  difference  between 
the  old  and  the  new  covenant.  According 
to  the  old,  all  those  who  complied  with  a 
few  of  the  external  conditions  of  that  cove- 
nant, though  they  were  not  converted  men, 
were  Israelites  (what  kind?)  in  cov^enant, 
and  heirs  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  was 


42  CHANGE  OF  DISPENSATION. 

one  of  the  legacies  bequeathed  m  the  first 
covenant,  and  also  to  the  privileges  and 
blessings  of  the  service  of  the  temple.  But 
in  the  new  none  would  be  admitted  but  true 
converts,  who  had  the  law  written  in  their 
hearts."  pp.  134,  135. 

Heirs  to  the  land  of  Canaan  !  That  land 
had  been  promised  to  Abraham's  "  seed  for 
an  everlasting  possessions^''  (Gen.  xvii.  8,)  and 
the  promise  had  been  fufilled.  For  ages 
they  had  been  in  possession  of  their  inheri- 
tance. How  then  could  these  Israslites, 
"  according  to  the  flesh,"  be  now  denomina- 
ted "  heirs  to  the  land  of  promise  ?"  Is  it 
proper  to  call  a  man  who  has  possession  of 
the  legacy  bequeathed  by  his  father  his  heir  ? 
Clearly  not.  He  was  an  heir  before  his  father's 
death,  but  not  since  "  the  legacy,  (to  use 
brother  W.'s  favorite  language)  was  paid," 
and  he  has  been  living  in  the  enjoyment  of  it. 

Again  let  it  be  remarked,  his  language 
is  calculated  to  make  a  wrong  impression  on 
the  mind  of  some  readers,  and  lead  them  to 
suppose,  that  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  sus- 


GEADUAL.  43 

tain  the  character  of  an  Israelite  in  covenant 
with  God. 

And  was  it  so?  To  what  a  multitude 
(not  a  ''^fevo'^)  external  observances  Avere  the 
natural  descendants  subjected !  How  fre- 
quently did  they  become  unclean  and  unfit 
for  the  temple  service  !  Mr.  W.  has  some- 
where cited  a  large  number  of  offences  for 
which  they  were  to  be  "cut  off  from  the 
people."  The  old  covenant,  far  from  being 
an  easy,  was  a  very  severe  service ;  an  intoler- 
able burden  in  the  judgment  oi Peter ;  who, 
in  the  council  held  at  Jerusalem,  addressed  to 
them  this  strong  and  emphatic  question : 
"  Now  therefore,  why  tempt  ye  God,  to  put 
a  yoke  on  the  disciples,  which  neither 
our  fathers  nor  we  ivere  able  to  bearT^  (Acts 
XV.  10.) 

Another  remark  should  not  be  omitted 
on  the  language  of  Mr .  W.  He  does  not 
accurately  distinguish  between  the  Old 
and  the  Ahrahamic  covenant,  but  rather  con- 
founds them.  We  shall  have  occasion 
hereafter  to  show  that,  in  our  opinion,  he 


M  CHANGE  OF  DISPENSATION. 

does  not  understand  correctly  the  import 
and  effects  of  the  new  covenant  of  which 
Jeremiah  prophesied. 

In  further  elucidating  the  condition  of  the 
Jews,  in  the  intervening  period  referred  to, 
let  it  be  observed,  that  every  converted  Jew, 
and  avowed  disciple  of  our  Lord,  was,  while 
he  continued  in  Judea,  bound  to  yield  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  enforced  by  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  land,  which 
did  not  conflict  with  laws  of  Christ. 

Admitted ;  the  Jewish  people,  by  reject- 
ing the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  refusing  to 
submit  to  his  blessed  reign,  were  exposed  to 
the  sentence  of  expulsion  from  his  king- 
dom or  church.  But  whose  province  was 
the  infliction  of  this  tremendous  sentence  ?  . 
It  was  not  put  in  the  power  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Apostles  could  warn  and 
entreat,  but  not  assume  the  prerogative  of 
their  Lord  and  Master. 

The  ten  tribes,  by  setting  up  the  golden 
calves,  in  the  two  extremities  of  their  land, 
became  idolaters,  and  incurred  the  penalty 


GRADUAL.  45 

of  being  disowned  bj  Jehovah.  But  the 
sentence  was  not  executed  immediately.  In 
great  mercy,  God  bore  long  with  them,  and 
sent  prophet  after  prophet  to  warn  and  re- 
claim them  ;  and  a  period  of  forbearing 
mercy  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
intervened  between  the  institution  of  idola- 
trous worship  among  them,  and  the  infliction 
of  the  sentence  so  frequently  denounced. 

A  season  of  siniilar  forbearance  was  allow- 
ed to  the  Jews,  though  not  so  long,  before 
the  Eomans  were  commissioned  by  God,  to 
capture  their  cities,  desolate  their  country,  de- 
stroy Jerusalem,  burn  their  temple,  make  an 
indiscriminate  slaughter  of  its  inhabitants, 
sell  those  that  were  not  slain,  and  disperse 
them  over  the  world.  This  fearful  occur- 
rence took  place  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  70, 
or  about  forty  years  after  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  was 
proclaimed  by  God  to  the  world  against  the 
Jews  the  fearful  words,  he  had  ages  before 
proclaimed  against  Israel:  "  Ye  are  not  my 
people,  and  I  will  not  be  your  God."  (Hosea 
i.9.) 


46  CHANGE  OF  DISPENSATION. 

Mr.  W.  greatly  errs  in  regard  to  tlie  exe- 
cution of  the  sentence  of  exscision  of  the 
Jews.  In  the  course  of  his  reasoning  to 
show  this  event  took  place  at  the  death  of 
Christ,  he  quotes  a  passage  from  PauVs 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews ;  (chap.  viii.  13 ;)  which 
if  he  had  duly  considered  would  have  discov- 
ered to  him  his  error.  Had  he  given  the 
whole  verse,  his  readers  might  have  detected 
his  mistake.  The  verse  reads  thus :  "  In 
that  he  saith,  A  new  covenant  he  hath  made 
the  first  old.  Now  that  which  decayeth 
and  waxeth  old  is  ready  to  vanish  awayJ^ 

Evidently,  although  old,  decayed,  and 
ready  to  vanish  away,  it  had  not  yet, 
in  the  judgment  of  Paul,  vanished  away. 
That  this  was  the  real  judgment  of  Paul, 
more  proof  will  be  presently  furnished. 

Before  this  is  presented,  the  readers  atten- 
tion is  requested  to  the  manner  in  v/hich 
Mr.  W.  treats  this  text.  He  quotes  it  pcLr- 
tially.  Having  cited  these  words :  "In  that 
he  saith  a  new  covenant  he  hath  made  the 
first   old."     Here  he  stops;  and  instead  of 


GKADUAL.  47 

giving  the  Apostle's  judgment,  by  quoting 
the  remaining  part  of  the  verse,  he  substi- 
tutes his  own  opinion,  by  adding,  "So  it 
would  vanish  away."  And  then  he  inquires, 
*'  Has  it  passed  away  ?" 

In  answer  to  this  question,  by  an  errone- 
ous interpretation  of  the  reasoning  of  Paul 
about  the  typical  part  of  the  old  covenant, 
he  is  led  to  this  conclusion,  "The  end  of 
which,  (the  old  covenant,)  Paul  says,  had 
come  when  Christ  died.''''  (p.  139.) 

But  Paul  did  not  say  so ;  for,  although 
he  had  asserted  in  the  text  quoted  above, 
"  It  was  ready  to  vanish  away ;  yet  he  knew 
it  had  not  vanished,  and  was  not  deprived  of 
all  its  force.  Parts  of  it  retained  their  author- 
ity. 

This  gTeat  Apostle,  while  he  firmly  assert- 
ed and  maintained  the  liberty  which  Christ 
had  granted  to  Gentile  believers,  and,  at 
Antioch,  boldly  rebuked  the  improper  and 
timid  conduct  of  the  apostle  Peter  ;  (Gal.  ii. 
11 — 21;)  yet  complied  with  Jewish  prejudices 
as  far  as  the  just  maintenance  of  "  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel,"  would  allow. 


48  CHANGE  OF  DISPENSATION. 

Timothy  was  the  son  of  a  Jewess  by  his 
father,  who  was  a  Greek ;  and  when  Paul 
resolved  to  take  him  with  him  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  we  are  informed,  by  the  sa- 
cred historian,  that  "  Paul  circumcised  him, 
because  of  the  Jews  which  were  in  those 
quarters ;  for  they  all  knew  that  his  father 
was  a  Greek."    (Acts  xvi.  1 — 3.) 

The  Apostle  knew  that  God  alone,  who 
had  established  the  Mosaic  economy  or  the 
old  covenant,  could  put  an  end  to  it,  by  His 
Providence  subverting  the  whole  govern- 
ment of  the  Jewish  nation,  both  ecclesiastical 
and  civil ;  and  hence  in  his  epistles,  he  in- 
culcated on  christians,  mutual  forbearance 
towards  one  another  in  unessential  matters, 
and  in  regard  to  what  they  might  in  each 
other  consider  as  the  dictates  of  an  erroneous 
conscience,  (see  Eom.  xiv.  18 — 28.) 

When  he  wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
(supposed  by  Scott  to  have  been  written 
during  his  imprisonment  at  Kome,)  he  saw 
the  great  decisive  act  of  Divine  Providence 
approaching;  and  therefore,   while  he  en- 


GRADUAL.  49 

deavored  to  enlighten  the  minds  of  the 
Hebrews,  in  regard  to  the  new  and  christian 
dispensation,  which  God  was  gradually  in- 
troducing over  j_^His  church,  he  expressed 
himself  in  the  text  quoted  above,  as  he  did : 
"  Now  that  which  decay eth  and  waxeth  old, 
is  ready  to  vanish  away.''''  It  was  ready  to 
vanish,  but  it  had  not  yet  vanished  away. — 
The  final  stroke  of  its  Divine  Author,  by 
which  it  would  be  prostrated,  had  not  fallen 
upon  it. 

Misled  by  his  theory^  Mr.  W.  has,  in  our 
judgment,  rashly  asserted,  that  no  intimation 
of  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Bible ;  although  he  has  looked  at  the 
11th  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Eomans, 
and  written  his  remarks  on  it :  which,  we 
think,  contains  not  only  intimations,  but  c?ear 
p'oofs  of  so  cheering  an  event. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Impediment  to  a  correct  interpretation  of  Eom.  xi  — 
Results  of  Mr.  W.'s  plan  of  investigating  the  scripturea 
— First  result — Erroneous  views — Vile  character  of  the 
Jews  by  Jeremiah — State  of  Gentiles— Paul's  character 
before  conversion — Second  result — Paul's  view  of  heirs  of 
the  promise — Penalty  of  exscision  explained  in  regard  to  un- 
circumcised  children — In  regard  to  David  —  Individuals 
and  a  City — When  idolatry  generally  prevailed  God  alone 
could  inflict  the  penalty. 

To  the  exposition  of  that  delightful  chap- 
ter we  should  now  proceed ;  but  we  deem  it 
expedient,  first,  to  present  to  the  reader  the 
results  of  Mr.  Williamson's  theory  and  plan 
of  investigating  the  sacred  scriptures,  to  find 
out  the  designs  of  Divine  Providence  in  re- 
gard to  the  Jewish  people.  This,  it  is 
believed,  will  lead  to  a  discovery,  that  his 
theory  is  unfounded  and  his  plan  of  inquiry 
erroneous ;  and  prepare  the  reader  to  receive 
an  exposition  of  that  portion  of  inspired 
truth,  which  we  deem  to  be  correct. 


OBJECTIONS.  51 

The  results  to  wliich  Mr.  W.  has  come 
appear  to  us  indeed  surprising. 

1.  The  first  is,  That  thej  will  never  be 
converted  to  the  Christian  faith^  as  a  people^ 
nor  ever  belong  to  the  Christian  Cliurch. 

He  says, 

"There  appears,  therefore,  no  promise  in 
the  Old  or  New  Testament,  that  they  will 
ever  return  as  a  nation,  either  as  the  church, 
or  to  the  church,  or  in  any  other  way,  except 
as  individuals  in  common  with  the  Grentiles.'' 
(pp.  5,  6,  Introduction.) 

"  Thus  far,  then,  we  see  nothing  like  a 
direct  or  ever  implied  assertion,  that  more 
than  a  very  few  of  the  Jews  are  ever  to  return 
to  the  church."  p.  125. 

Further,  Mr.  W.  contends,  that  the  Jews 
will,  as  a  people,  not  only  remain  out  of  the 
church,  but  be  held  up,  by  Divine  Provi- 
dence, as  a  heacon  to  warn  others  against 
the  danger  of  unbelief  to  the  end  of  time. 

On  page  9,  he  says, 

*'That  the  church  has  no  more  to  seek 
for,  and  expect  their  conversion,  than  that  of 


Q%  CONVERSION  OF    THE   JKWS. 

any  other  people  :  and  beyond  that,  it  seems 
more  than  intimated,  that  these  scattered 
Jews  as  a  nation  (people  ?)  will  never  be  con- 
verted, nor  amalgamated  with  other  nations^ 
except  a  feiv  of  them,  bnt  will  always,  as 
now,  stand  out,  in  every  nation,  as  beacons 
of  warning  to  them  of  the  fearful  conse- 
quence of  rejecting  Christ,  calling  him  an 
impostor,  and  trampling  on  his  blood." 

This  is  followed  (j^p.  9,  10,)  by  a  singular 
and  confused  argument.  In  opposition  to  it 
our  design  is  to  show,  in  the  proper  place, 
that  more  than  one  j)rophet  has  distinctly 
taught  that  the  Jews  would  go  into  captivity 
after  that  in  Babylon ;  and  that  the  Jews,  as 
Jews,  would  be  carried  captive  by  the 
Komans,  after  the  final  capture  and  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  How  could  the  Jews  be 
carried  captive  by  the  Komans  but  as  Jews  ? 
Jews  they  certainly  were  at  the  time ; 
though  not  such  spiritual  Jcavs  as  Paul  char- 
acterizes in  Eom.  ii.  28,  29  ;  and  the  seed  of 
Abraham,"  in  the  sense  affixed  to  the  terms 
by  our  Lord,  when,  in  his  controversy  with 


OBJECTIONS. 


53 


the  Jews,  lie  said,  "I  know  that  je  are 
Abraham's  seed,"  (John  viii.  87,)  and  when 
He  at  the  same  time,  (verse  44,)  said,  "  Ye  are 
of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  Inste  of 
your  father  ye  will  do." 

It  is  owing  to  not  making  proper  distinc- 
tions, that  brother  W.  speaks  as  he  does,  in 
the  last  paragraph  of  the  10th  page.  While 
the  Jews  occupied  their  own  land,  before  the 
advent  of  our  Lord,  none  but  true  believers 
were  the  "  seed  of  Abraham,"  as  Paul  (Gal. 
iii.  29,)  used  the  term,  ''  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise ;  the  great  promise  of  the 
covenant,  as  we  have  explained.  (See  pp.  15, 
20.)  No  one  who  understands  the  scriptures, 
will  call  the  existing  Jews  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham according  to  Paul's  meaning,  or  say 
they  have  any  claim  to  this  great  promise. 

Here  we  think  it  proper  to  notice  two 
other  passages,  to  show  how  strangely  our 
brother  reasons. 

One  is  found  on  page  149. 

"But  first  I  would  remark,  that  if  we 
have  been  successful  in  proving  that  the  only 


54  CONVERSION  OF  THE   JEWS. 

seed  of  Abraham  and  heirs  of  the  promises, 
are  at  present  true  behevers,  then  they  are 
not  in  captivity,  and  so  cannot  now  come 
out  of  it." 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  been  just  said, 
that  we  shall  admit  his  premises ;  but  we 
cannot  admit  his  conclusion. 

John,  in  his  apocalypse,  (chap.  xii.  12,) 
has  given  a  glorious  symbol  of  the  true 
church  of  God ;  and  (in  verse  6,)  he  says, 

"And  the  woman  fled  into  the  wilderness, 
where  she  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God, 
that  they  should  feed  her  there  a  thousand 
two  hundred  and  three  score  days." 

Is  she  not  in  captivity  ?  Who  drove  her 
into  the  wilderness  ?  Was  she  not  driven 
there  by  those  anti-christian  men  who  re- 
ceived jDOwer  from  the  "  great  red  dragon?" 
And  does  she  not  contain  many  true  be- 
lievers ? 

Her  period  of  1,250  3'ears  are  not  expired  ; 
and  when  they  shall  expire,  and  she  shall  be 
permitted  to  come  out  of  the  wilderness,  and 
enjoy  her  glorious  liberty,  will  she  not  come 


OBJECTIONS.  55 

out  of  captivity^  and  receive  greater  blessings, 
tlian  tlie  Jews  received  under  the  proclama- 
tion of  Cjrus,  by  wbicli  tliey  were  set  free 
from  Babylonish  captivity  ? 

Another  paragraph  is  found  on  page  159. 

''  Besides,  all  this  was  to  be  done  for  the 
house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah, 
which  were  then  to  go  into  captivity,  includ- 
ing the  whole  church  of  Christ.  But  if  this 
return  be  future,  then  these  blessings  are 
either  promised  to  a  people  whom  Christ 
calls  the  children  of  the  De^^l,  or  to  the 
church,  which  is  not  captivity." 

This  is  not  the  place  to  expose  the  erron- 
eous interpretation  Mr.  W.  puts  on  pre- 
dictions referred  to  by  him,  in  regard  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land. 
This  Avill  be  attended  to  in  another  part  of 
our  discussion. 

Here  we  only  ask.  What  was  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Jews,  when  the  promise  on  which 
he  so  much  insists,  that  they  should  be 
delivered  from  captivity  in  Babylon  ?  Were 
they  not  exceedingly  corrupt  ?     Were  they 


56  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

not  dismally  stained  with  tlie  guilt  of  gross, 
idolatry  ?  Miglit  not  tlie  great  mass  of  them 
be  characterized  as  "the  children  of  the 
Devil  ?"  And  did  not  God  send  them  into 
captivity  as  a  punishment  of  their  idolatry 
and  other  crimes  ?  What  a  black  catalogue. 
of  their  crimes,  is  given  by  Jeremiah,  in 
chapter  xxxiii.  26—85 ;  and  yet  from  verse 
36  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  he  utters  those 
most  gracious  promises  of  their  return,  and 
of  the  signal  blessings  God  engaged  to  be- 
stow on  them ! 

Now,  if  Jehovah  could  give  to  this  de- 
praved people  such  precious  promises  of 
what  He  intended  to  do  for  the  next  genera- 
tion ;  why  could  He  not  utter  to  the  same 
people,  the  same  house  of  Israel,  and  the 
same  house  of  Judah,  promises  of  what  He 
designs  to  do  for  generations  in  some  far 
distant  period  ? 

How  vile  was  the  character  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, when  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  direct 
the  prophets  to  record  their  predictions,  that 
the  Gentiles  should    be  brought  into  his 


OBJECTIONS.  75 

cliurcli?  And,  indeed,  how  exceedingly 
abandoned  to  wickedness,  were  tliej  when 
the  Gospel  was  first  preached  to  them  !  How 
black  and  dismal  the  colors  in  which  Panl 
has  drawn  their  character !  (Eom.  i.  18 — 32.) 

What  was  Paul  himself  when  he  was 
converted?  Was  he  not  a  child  of  the 
Devil?  Does  he  not  characterize  himself 
as  having  been  "a  blasphemer,  a  persecutor, 
and  the  chief  of  sinners  ?"  And  does  he 
not  magnify  the  grace  of  Christ  in  dying, 
not  only  for  sinners,  but  for  the  chief  of 
sinners  ? 

How  futile,  then,  the  alternative  proposed 
by  our  brother  in  the  close  of  the  paragraph 
cited  above  1 

"But  if  this  return  be  yet  future,  then 
these  blessings  are  either  promised  to  a  peo- 
ple whom  Christ  calls  the  children  of  the 
De^T-1,  or  to  the  church,  which  is  not  in  cap- 
tivity. 

Yes,  when  first  given  they  were  uttered 
to  that  wicked  and  abandoned  people  de- 
scribed by  Jeremiah;   and   when  fulfilled 


58  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

they  will  confer  inestimable  blessings  upon 
a  vile  generation,  that  will  change  tlie  cliil- 
dren  of  the  Devil  into  sons  of  the  most 
High  God! 

And,  doubtless,  were  brother  W.  to  hve 
to  see  the  fulfilment  of  these  blessed  prom- 
ises, he  would  feel  somewhat  as  the  pre- 
judiced disciples  of  Christ  at  Jerusalem  did, 
after  Peter  had  rehearsed  his  visit  to  Corne- 
lius, the  Eoman  Centurian ;  "When  they 
heard  these  things  they  held  their  peace, 
and  glorified  God,  saying.  Then  hath  God 
also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto 
life."  (Acts  xi.  1—4,  18.) 

11.  The  second  result  to  which  Mr.  "W.  has 
arrived,  is  stated  by  him,  in  his  Introduction 
(p.  8.)  thus : 

"  So  that  after  this,  the  line  of  succession 
or  heirship  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the  chiircli^ 
as  under  the  old  covenant,  but  only  in  true 
believers,  as  foretold  by  Jer.  xxxi.  31." 

A  sad  result  indeed !  It  cuts  off  children 
from  the  great  privilege  of  being  in  cove- 
nant with   God,   secured   to  them  by  the 


OBJECTIONS.  59 

Abrahamic  covenant,  and  deprives  them  of 
its  seal.  It  was  not  tlie  Old  or  Sinai  cove- 
nant that  conferred  on  them  these  inestima- 
ble privileges,  but  the  Abrahamic.  The 
Old^  or  national^  covenant  was  instituted  in 
subserviency  to  this  ecclesiastical  covenant, 
as  we  have  shown,  (page  23.)  It  was  made 
at  Mount  Sinai  with  the  Israelites ;  because 
they  had  become  a  nation.  It  gave  them 
no  title  to  the  great  promise  in  the  Abra- 
hamic covenant ;  it  only  repeated  the  prom- 
ise of  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  the  wicked 
generation  that  came  out  of  Egypt,  after- 
wards lost  through  their  repeated  rebellions. 
(Num.  xiv.  22—24.) 

Mr.  W.  greatly  fails  in  making  proper 
distinctions,  and  not  unfrequently  confounds 
the  covenants.     This  will  often  aj^pear. 

Let  us  look,  at  the  different  steps  by  which 
he  has  reached  his  conclusion. 

On  page  38  we  find  these  words : 

^'  After  the  complete  organization  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  (Israelitish  ?)  none  were  re- 
cognized as  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  promise, 
who  were  not  in  that  church,  whether  Jews 


60  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

or  of  Gentile  origin,  while  all  in   it  were 
counted  heirs." 

How  erroneous  !  Paul  has  explained  the 
meaning  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  in  two 
of  his  epistles ;  and  in  Gal.  iii.  29,  he  has 
given  us  this  rule  :  "  And  if  ye  be  Christ's, 
then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  and  heirs  accord- 
ing to  the  promised 

This  text  is  quoted  again  and  again  by 
Mr.  "W. ;  and  yet,  with  it  before  his  eyes, 
he  has  fallen  into  so  great  an  error  1  Were 
all  in  the  church  when  completely  organized, 
whether  Jews  or  of  Gentile  origin,  Chrisfs  f 
Had  they  the  faith  of  Abraham?  "Were 
they  heirs  of  the  promise  f  Were  they  jus- 
tified, as  Abraham  was  when  he  believed? 
and  were  that  whole  generation  concerning 
whom,  God,  provoked  by  their  repeated  re- 
bellions,  sware,  that  their  carcasses  should 
fall  in  the  wilderness,  heirs  of  the  promise  ? 
Did  they  fall  from  grace? 

On  page  44,  Mr.  W.  subsequently  to  the 
dispersion  of  the  ten  tribes,  or  Israel,  by  the 
Assyrians,  says  : 

*'  This,  I  think,  we  may  now  safely  lay  it 


OBJECTIONS.  61 

down  as  our  future  rule  of  examination  till 
the  deatli  of  Christ,  that  all  who  were  regu- 
larly in  the  Jewish  Church,  after  its  complete 
organization,  were  counted  Israel  the  seed  of 
Abraham  and  heirs  of  the  promises,  and 
none  others." 

Here  he  betrays  the  same  want  of  dis- 
crimination, and  fails  to  profit  by  the  instruc- 
tions of  Paul ;  who  says  ;  For  they  are  not  all 
Israel  which  are  of  Israel ;  neither  because 
they  are  the  seed  of  Abraham  are  they  all 
children;  but  in  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be 
called.  That  is.  They  which  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  chil- 
dren of  God  :  but  the  children  of  promise 
are  counted  for  the  seed."  The  Apostle 
goes  on,  in  illustration  of  his  distinction, 
and  shows  how  from  the  beginning,  God,  as 
a  Sovereign,  bestowed  his  blessings,  on  whom 
He  was  pleased  to  choose.  (Eom.  ix.  6 — 24.) 

"All  regularly  in  the  Jewish  Church," 
were  not  counted  Israel  in  the  Apostle's 
sense  of  the  appellation ;  nor  were  they, 
according  to  his  meaning,  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, nor  heirs  of  the  ^promise. 


62  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

The  questions  proposed  by  brother  W.,  in 
his  sixth  letter,  are  singular  indeed !  Who 
ever  maintained  or  even  hinted,  that  the 
beheving  Jews  who  received  and  obeyed 
Christ  our  Lord,  "  forfeited  their  character 
as  Jews,  and  their  claims  as  heirs  of  the 
promises  made  to  Abraham  and  his  seed? 
Or  whoever  asserted,  that  those  Jews,  "who 
called  him  an  impostor,  and  joined  in  purse- 
cuting  and  putting  to  death  the  Son  of  God, 
thereby  secured  to  themselves  and  their 
children  forever  all  those  rich  legacies  which 
were  yet  due  by  covenant  promise  to  the 
lawful  heirs  of  Abraham  ?" 

Here  we  have  another  specimen  of  the 
strange  alteimatives^  into  which  Mr.  "W.  has 
been  betrayed  by  his  erroneous  theory. 

To  the  questions  proposed  by  him  at  the 
close  of  this  letter,  (pp.  65,  65,)  we  answer ; 
That  the  "  rebellion"  of  the  unbelieving 
Jews  did  not  constitute  them  the  exclusive 
heirs,  or  heirs  at  all  to  the  promises,  but  led 
to  their  expulsion  from  the  covenant ;  and 
that  the  obedience  of  the  believing  part,  so 


OBJECTIONS.  63 

far  from  cutting  them  off  from  the  promises, 
made  tliem  what  they  were  not  before, 
though  in  the  church,  the  true  seed  of  Abra- 
ham. Christ,  after  his  resmTCction  had  a 
kingdom,  and  he  reigned  not  only  over  be- 
lieving Jews  ;  but,  as  their  king,  he  punish- 
ed, in  due  time,  those  Jews  who  said,  "We 
will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us,"  by 
expelling  them  from  his  kingdom  or  church. 

And  we  believe,  that  as  they  never  had 
been,  so  now  they  are  not  the  spiritual  seed 
of  Abraham ;  but  may  be  denominated,  as 
Christ  did  denominate  them  "  the  children 
of  the  devil;"  and  yet  a  future  generation 
of  these  opposers  of  Christ,  v/ill,  according 
to  prophetic  assurances,  receive  converting 
grace,  from  Him  who  died  for  sinners,  and 
"  came  to  call  not  the  righteous,  but  sinners 
to  repentance  ;"  and  be  brought  again  into 
His  church,  to  hail  Him  as  their  King,  and 
yield  to  Him  a  willing  obedience. 

The  interpretation  which  Mr.  W.  puts  on 
two  passages,  quoted  by  him,  is  entirely  in- 
correct ;  and,   of  course   his  reasoning   on 


64  COXVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

tliem  is  in  conclusive,  (pp.  62,  63.)  He 
assumes  tliat  our  Lord  was  not  invested  with 
universal  power,  nor  constituted  judge,  be- 
fore his  resurrection.     Is  this  so  ? 

John,  His  forerunner,  early  delivered  this 
testimony  :  "  The  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and 
hath  given  all  things  into  his  hands.  He 
that  beUeveth  on  him  hath  everlasting  life, 
&c.  (John  iii.  35,  36.)  And  just  after  He  had 
commissioned  the  twelve  to  preach  in  the 
villages  of  the  Jews,  He  said  of  Himself, 
"  All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of  my 
Father ;  and  no  man  knoweth  the  Son,  but 
the  Father ;  neither  knoweth  any  man  the 
Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever 
the  Son  will  reveal  him,"  (Mat,  xi.  27.) 
And  again  in  vindicating  his  conduct  in 
healing  the  impotent  man  on  the  Sabbath, 
He  told  the  enraged  Jews,  "For  as  the 
Father  raiseth  up  the  dead,  and  quickeneth 
them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he 
will.  For  the  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but 
hath  committed  all  judgment  to  the  Son ; 
th^t  all  men  should  honor  the  Son,  even  as 


OBJECTIONS.  65 

they  honor  the  Father.  He  that  honoreth  not 
the  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father  which  hath 
gent  him."  John  v.  21—23.  See  also  vs.  24 
—29.     Chap.  xiii.  S—6,  12—17. 

It  was,  then,  no  want  of  power  in  our 
Redeemer,  as  Mr.  W.  assumes,  or  of  au- 
thority as  a  judge,  that  He  refased  comph- 
ance  with  a  request  about  dividing  an 
inheritance,  or  that  He  hmited  the  commis- 
sion of  the  twelve  to  the  Jews.  His  infinite 
wisdom  prompted  Him  to  act  as  He  did  in 
both  cases. 

Difference  hetween  exposure  to,  and  the  in  flic- 
iion  of  a  penalty. 

There  is  a  manifest  distinction  to  be  made 
between  the  incurring  of  a  penalty  and  the 
execution  of  the  penalty.  In  illustration  of 
this  remark,  let  us  refer  to  a  passage  in  Mr. 
W.'s  letters. 

He  writes  (pp.  7,  8,)  thus  :  "  Then  when 
we  trace  the  history  of  Judah  down  to  the 
time  of  Christ,  we  see  them  again  divide 
into  two  parties,"  (had  not  such  parties 
always  existed  among  the  Jews  from  their 


66  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

return  from  Babylonisli  captivity?)  "the 
smaller,  as  always,  following,  and  the  larger 
rejecting  Christ,  and  refusing  to  obey  Him, 
and  finally  causing  Him  to  be  put  to  death, 
and  seem  thereby  to  incur  the  penalty  of 
FINAL  exscision  from  all  future  connection 
with  the  people  of  God,  according  to  the 
law  of  Moses ;  Deut.  xviii.  19,  as  explained 
by  Peter,  Acts  iii.  23,  in  further  proof  of 
which  they  have  remained  separate  now  for 
more  than  1,800  years.  The  penalty  here, 
as  explained  by  Peter,  seems  as  positive  as 
that  of  an  uncircumcised  man  child ;  and 
therefore  all  the  heirs  that  remain  after  this, 
are  to  be  found  in  that  party  that  received 
Christ  as  their  Saviour,  and  obeyed  Him  as 
their  King,  and  those  that  fell  to  him  from 
other  Jews  soon  after."     • 

On  this  passage  we  ask,  first^  To  what 
were  the  circumcised  male  children  heirs  ? 

Not  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  for  they  were 
born  in  it,  and  as  they  grew  up,  lived  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  inheritance  that  had  been 
promised  to  their  fathers.     Without  faith 


OBJECTIOXS.  67 

tliey  could  not  become  lieirs  to  tlie  great 
promise  of  wliicli  Paul  speaks,  in  Gal.  iii.  29. 

Second^  Was  no  room  left  for  repentance, 
to  the  uncircumcised  man-child,  whose  crim- 
inal parents  had  neglected  to  have  impressed 
on  him  the  token  of  the  covenant  ?  When  he 
grew  up,  and  wished  to  be  restored  among 
God's  people,  could  he  not  enter  again  and 
recover  his  forfeited  privileges,  as  well  as  a 
Gentile  ?  This,  it  is  presumed,  our  brother 
will  hardly  deny. 

The  case  then  of  an  uncircumcised  man- 
child  is  unfortunately  introduced  as  a  proof 
of  i\\Q  final  exscision  of  the  Jews. 

The  children  of  that  rebellious  generation 
that  came  out  of  Egypt,  were  not  circum- 
cised in  the  wilderness;  and  the  reason 
probably  was,  because  their  fathers  were 
cast  out  of  the  covenant,  when  God  swore 
they  should  not  enter  the  land  of  promise. 

But  their  children  were  admitted  into  the 
covenant;  and  therefore,  circumcised  by 
God's  command,  soon  after  they  had  crossed 


68  CONVERSION  OP  THE  JEWS. 

the  river  Jordan,  and  entered  the  land  of 
promise.     See  Joshua  v.  2 — 7. 


David,  h  J  committing  adultery  with  Bath- 
sheba,  and  murdering  her  husband,  had 
exposed  himself  to  the  penalty  of  death. 
(Levit.  XX.  10.)  But  who  shall  execute  the 
law,  and  put  the  king  to  death  ? 

Nathan,  the  Prophet,  was  sent  to  David 
to  convince  him  of  the  greatness  of  his 
guilt,  and  that  he  deserved  to  have  the  pen- 
alty of  God's  holy  law  inflicted  on  him. 
(2  Sam.  xii.  1—12.)  But  when  David 
acknowledged  his  guilt,  the  Prophet  an- 
nounced his  forgiveness  :  "And  Nathan  said 
unto  David,  The  Lord  also  hath  put  away 
thy  sin ;  thou  shalt  not  die."  (2  Sam.  xii. 
13, 14.) 

CASE  OF  IDOLATERS. 

Further  to  illustrate  the  importance  of 
distinguishing  between  liability  to  punish- 
ment and  the  infliction  of  the  threatened 
punishment,   take  another  case.    Look  at 


OBJECTIONS.  69 

idolatry.  Tlie  laws  of  God  against  tliis 
great  crime  were  very  severe  and  very  just. 
If  a  man  were  secretly  enticed  to  this  vile 
transgression,  by  his  brother,  or  son,  or 
daughter,  or  the  wife  of  his  bosom,  he  was, 
not  only  forbidden  to  yield,  but  solemnly 
required  to  cause  the  offender,  to  be  put  to 
death,  and  to  commence  the  act  of  stoning, 
Deut.  xiii.  6 — 11.)  Then  follows,  from  verse 
12  to  17th,  directions  how  the  Israelites  were 
to  act  in  regard  to  a  city  that  had  gone  astray 
in  this  matter.  After  making  due  inquiry, 
if  it  was  found  that  the  city  was  guilty,  they 
were  commanded  to  "  smite  the  inhabitants 
of  that  city  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,"  and. 
"  burn  with  fire  the  city." 

CASE  OF  NATIONAL    IDOLATRY. 

But  when  the  people  of  Israel  became 
generally  idolaters,  it  is  manifest  the  punish- 
ment could  not,  and  would  not,  be  inflicted 
by  the  hands  of  their  rulers ;  and  that  God 
alone  could  deal  with  them  as  they  deserved. 

How  often  did  Israel,  after  their  settlement 


70  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

in  Canaan,  fall  into  the  great  sin  of  idolatry ! 
They  deserved  to  be  disowned  by  Jehovah, 
and  He  might  have  destroyed  them.  But 
He  did  not,  although  He  often  sold  them 
into  the  hands  of  their  enemies ;  and  thus 
severely  punished  them.  Yet,  being  merci- 
ful and  long  suffering,  when  they  repented 
and  cried  to  Him,  He  heard  and  delivered 
them,  and  restored  them  to  favor. 

Eeadthe  Book  of  Judges,  and  particularly 
chap.  ii.  11 — 23.  chap.  iii.  5 — 30.  chap.  vi. 
1—14 ;  33—40.  chap.  vii.  1—25. 

It  is  apparent,  then,  that  exposure  to 
a  penalty  and  the  infliction  of  it,  are  two 
distinct  and  different  things.  Mr.  W.  fails 
to  make  this  necessary  distinction. 

Let  the  language  of  Moses,  (Deut.  xviii. 
15 — 19,)  be  compared  with  Peter's  exposi- 
tion ;  (Acts  iii.  23  ;)  and  it  will  be  found 
they  perfectly  agree.  If  brother  W.  had 
cited  what  Peter  says  in  25  and  26th  verse, 
the  reader  would  have  seen  these  words  :  "  Ye 
are  the  children  of  the  prophets  and  of  the 
covenant  which  God  made  with  our  fathers, 


OBJECTIONS.  71 

saying  unto  Abraham,  And  in  thy  seed  shall 
all  the  kindred  of  the  earth  be  blessed. 
Unto  you  first,  God  having  raised  up  his 
Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning 
away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities." 
This  agi'ees  with  what  he  had  said,  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost :  "  Kepent  and  be  baptized 
every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise 
is  unto  you,  and  to  your  children^  and  to  all 
that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord 
our  God  shall  call. 

Let  it  be  observed,  that,  on  both  occasions, 
Peter  addressed  his  hearers  thus :  "  Ye  men 
of  Israel."  (chap.  ii.  22.  chap.  iii.  12.) 

It  is  plain,  then,  that  Mr.  W.  cannot  de- 
rive, either  from  the  words  of  Peter,  or  from 
the  case  of  the  uncircumcised  man-child, 
any  proof,  that  the  penalty  of  exscision  from 
the  covenant  had,  at  the  time  of  Peter's  ad- 
dresses, after  our  Lord  had  arisen  from  the 
dead  and  ascended  to  heaven,  been  inflicted 
on  the  Jews. 


72  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

The  contrary  is  apparent ;  for  they  were 
addressed  still  as  God's  covenant  people. 
Nor  can  lie  prove  from  sacred  scripture,  that 
God,  by  His  providence,  expelled  them  from 
the  covenant,  in  the  life-time  of  the  Apostle 
Peter, 


CHAPTER  TV. 

God  has  a  visible  Church — Committed  to  fallible  men — 
Perfectly  pure  Church  never  existed^-Children  members 
— Covenant  unchanged — Not  a  Will— Consequences  of 
regarding  it  as  such— Promise  boundless  and  eternal. 

Let  US  now  return  to  the  passage  transcrib- 
ed from  Mr.  "W. ;  at  tlie  head  of  this  par- 
ticular. 

What  does  he  mean  ?  Does  he  intend  to 
teach  that  the  New  Covenant  engages  that 
all  the  members  of  God's  church  on  earth, 
shall  be  taught  of  God,  be  regenerated  per- 
sons, true  behevers  ?  Then  he  teaches  what 
the  covenant  does  not  engage. 

VISIBLE     CHUECH. 

God  has  a  visible  church  on  earth ;  and 
this  church  is  made  visible  in  regard  to  adult 
members,  by  their  profession  of  religion  and 
participation  of  the  sacraments,  baptism,  and 
the  Lord's  supper;  and  the  administration 
3* 


74  COXVERSION"  OF  THE  JEWS. 

of  its  affairs,  lias  been  committed,  by  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  to  ministers  appointed  by 
Himself  for  tlie  purpose  ;  wlio  are  dXl  fallible 
men,  unable  to  searcli  the  heart  and  guard 
against  deception.  They  may  receive  into 
the  church,  not  only  self-deceivers,  who  do 
not  intend  to  deceive,  but  real  hypocrites , 
who  design  to  impose  on  them. 

NO   VISIBLE   CHURCH    PERFECTLY  PURE. 

There  never  existed  such  a  pure  church, 
as  Mr.  "W.  contemplates,  since  the  organiza- 
tion of  it  in  the  family  of  Abraham. 

Even  in  the  small  family  of  our  blessed 
Lord  there  was  a  de^dl,  a  traitor. 

And  in  the  Apostohc  church  were  found 
Ananias  and  Saphira,  his  wife,  who  were 
both  stricken  dead  at  Peter's  feet ;  because 
they  lied  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  (Acts  v.  8 — 5, 
8—10.) 

Simon  Magus  professed  to  believe,  and 
was  baptized  by  Philip ;  but,  when  he  dis- 
covered the  wickedness  of  his  heart,  by 
offering  money   to  i)urchase    "  the  gift  of 


OBJECTIONS.  67 

God,"  Peter  said,  "  Thy  money  perisli  with 
thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  that  the 
gift  of  God  may  be  purchased  with  money. 
Thou  hast  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter : 
for  thy  heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of 
God.  Eepent  therefore  of  this  thy  wicked- 
ness, and  pray  God,  if  perhaps  the  thought 
of  thine  heart  may  be  forgiven  thee.  For  I 
perceive  that  thou  art  in  the  gall  of  bitter- 
ness, and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity."  (Acts 
viii.  20—23.) 

Subsequently  when  the  church  at  Jerusa- 
lem had  so  increased,  that  many  thousands 
of  Jews  believed,  {mi/riads,  many  ten  thous- 
ands in  the  original,)  the  probabihty  is, 
that  many  false  professors  had  gained 
admission  into  the  church. 

Besides,  to  the  visible  church  belong  the 
baptized  children  of  professing  christians. 
The  privilege  of  membership  was  given  to 
children  by  God,  in  the  covenant  made  with 
Abraham ;  and  it  is  out  of  the  power  of 
Mr.  W.  to  prove  it  was  ever  taken  from 
them,  or  that  the  covenant  organizing  the 


76  CONVERSION    OF    THE  JEWS. 

church,  was  ever  so  changed,  as  to  throw 
children  out  of  a  co  vena  at  relation  to  God. 

The  new  covenant  was  not  designed,  as 
will  hereafter  appear,  to  deprive  children  of 
their  long  enjoyed  privilege.  They  are  still 
entitled  to  it,  and  are  yet  embraced  within 
the  covenant's  ample  folds. 

If,  then,  the  Abrahamic  covenant  remains 
essentially  the  same,  its  great  design  of 
making  the  visible  church  a  nursery  to  the 
invisible  church,  or,  in  other  words,  trans- 
mitting the  blessings  of  salvation  seminally, 
must  still  remain  unaffected  by  any  change 
of  dispensation. 

So  believed  Peter  when  he  said,  "  Ye  men 
of  Israel" — "  The  promise  is  to  you  and  to 
your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off, 
even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall 
call." — Ye  are  the  children  of  the  prophets, 
and  of  the  covenant  which  God  made  with 
our  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham,  "And  in 
thy  seed  shall  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth 
be  blessed." 


OBJECTIONS.  77 

This  covenant  contemplated  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Gentiles ;  and  when  the  grace  of 
God  brought  them  into  the  Jewish  Christian 
Church,  their  children  came  with  them ;  and 
the  great  design  of  the  covenant  remained 
the  same." 

"  The  line  of  succession"  was  not  taken 
from  the  visible  churchy  and  given  to  the 
world. 

Bead  and  search  the  history  of  the  church, 
after  it  had  been  augmented  by  large  acces- 
sions from  Gentile  nations ;  and  it  will  be 
found,  that  the  blessings  of  salvation  were 
transmitted  to  the  children  of  professing 
christians.  The  line  of  succession  is  still  in 
the  church,  and  will  remain  in  it,  to  the  end 
of  time.  ^ 

The  day  approaches  when  that  prediction 
will  receive  a  glorious  accomplishment :  "  In- 
stead of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  children, 
whom  thou  mayest  make  princes  in  all  the 
earth."  (Ps.  xlv.  16.) 

From  the  review  of  the  two  results,  at 
which  Mr.  W .  has  arrived,  in  his  investiga- 
*See  Appendix,  A. 


78  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEAVS. 

tion  of  the  present  and  fature  condition  of 
the  Jews,  it  is  clear  in  our  judgment,  that 
he  has  been  misled  by  a  false  theory,  and 
want  of  suf&cient  and  correct  views  of  the 
covenants. 

Had  he  duly  studied  the  Abrahamic  cov- 
enant, he  would  have  discovered,  that  it 
contained  both  spiritual  and  temporal  or  eX' 
ternal  blessings,  and  that,  in  corresjDondence 
with  the  two-fold  blessings,  it  comprehended 
a  two-fold  seed  ;  "  children  of  the  jlesW  and 
''^  children  of  promise  f^  or  children  hj  hirth 
and  children  by  grace. 

Had  he  sufficiently  studied  this  great 
ecclesiastical  covenant,  he  would  not  have 
commenced  with  such  a  vague  inquiry,  as  is 
found  on  page  4th  of  his  Introduction : 

"  Who  are,  at  present,  the  recognized 
seed  of  Abraham,  to  whom  the  promises 
belong  ?" 

Adverting  to  the  two-fold  kind  of  bless- 
ings or  promises,  and  the  two-fold  seed 
contemplated  in  the  covenant,  he  would 
have  proposed  his  inquiry  in  a  less  general 


OBJECTIONS.  79 

and  more  correct  form ;  lie  would  have  ex- 
plained to  wliicli  seed  lie  referred,  and  shown 
distinctly  what  promises  he  meant.  Had  he 
done  this,  he  wou\d  have  preserved  both 
himself  and  his  readers  from  going  astray 
from  the  true  path. 

Had  Mr.  W.  possessed  an  adequate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Abrahamic  covenant, 
he  would  have  seen  the  impropriety  of  con- 
sidering this  covenant  as  a  Will  or  Testament 

It  is  no  where  presented,  by  the  inspired 
writers,  in  this  light ;  it  is  uniormly  denom- 
inated by  them  a  covenant.  It  is  so  styled 
by  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Galatians ; 
when  he  shows  that  the  law,  or  Old  covenant, 
instead  of  disannulling,  was  designed  to 
subserve  the  fulfilment  of  this  covenant ; 
that  had  been  confirmed  before  of  God  in 
Christy  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  pre- 
viously to  the  gi^T.ng  of  the  law.  (chap,  iii.) 
And  so  in  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  (Chap. 
vi.  13 — 18,)  it  is  called,   ^^  promise^  couiiseV 

But,  in  neither  of  these  chapters  of  that 
epistle,  (the  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth,)  where 


80  CONVERSION    OF  THE  JEWS. 

he  contrasts  tlie  New  and  the  Old  cove- 
nant, is  it  once  so  named. 

In  reference  to  the  death  of  Christ,  the 
covenant  of  which  he  is  Mediator,  is  denom- 
inated a  Testament;  and  the  Old  covenant, 
with  which  this  covenant  is  contrasted, 
receives  a  like  denomination. 

By  viewing  the  Abrahamic  covenant  as  a 
Will  or  Testament^  Mr.  W.  falls  into  a  mani- 
fest contradiction,  and  confounds  it  with  the 
Old  covenant. 

At  the  top  of  page  16,  he  writes  thus : 

"In  examining  the  question  who  are  heirs 
to  a  will,  both  the  law  of  the  land  and  the 
conditions  of  the  will,  are  to  be  carefully 
examined." 

This  is  certainly  true.  But  in  regard  to 
the  question,  (page  177.)  "Who  are  the 
lawful  heirs  of  the  bequests  made  to  the  seed 
of  Abraham  ?"  he  writes  very  differently  ; 
and  says : 

"  This  seeihs  to  be  a  question  totally  dis- 
tinct from  the  question,  AYhat  are  the  con- 
tents of   a    will?    and    should    surely  be 


OBJECTIONS.  81 

definitely  settled  before  we  look  at  the 
contents  of  tlie  will ;  for  before  I  know 
whether  I  am  an  heir,  the  contents  of  the 
will  are  of  little  consequence  to  me.  Indeed, 
it  is  always  difficult  to  understand  an  obscure 
will  till  we  know  distinctly  of  whom  it 
speaks ;  and  so  of  the  Abrahamic  will  as 
expounded  by  the  Prophets." 

Now  this,  in  my  opinion,  is  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  first 
quotation. 

On  page  19,  we  find  this  passage  : 

"  In  looking  over  the  will  of  our  Lord, 
among  many  things  a  little  obscure,  the  fol- 
lowing seem  to  be  plain  in  the  conditions  of 
the  will  as  recorded." 

Mr.  "W.  then  goes  on  to  specify  seven 
conditions  as  plain.  We  shall  not  stop  to 
show  how  inaccurately  several  of  them  are 
expressed,  but  only  draw  the  attention  of 
the  reader  to  the  seventh^  on  page  20. 

When  he  has  perused  it,  we  request  him 
to  attend  to  a  few  questions.  How  many  of 
those  who  were  conveited  on  the   day  of 


82  CONVEESION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Pentecost,  liad  cried  out  for  tlie  crucifixion 
of  Ckrist?  (Acts  ii.  S6.)  Subsequently  we 
are  informed,  that  tlie  number  of  the  disci- 
ples multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly;  and  a 
great  company  of  the  Priests  were  obedient 
to  the  faith;  (Acts  vi.  7;)  how  many  of 
these  Priests  and  disciples  had  rejected 
Christ,  and  united  in  the  dreadful  impreca- 
tion ?  "  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  our 
children !"  The  same  question  might  be 
asked  in  regard  to  the  many  myriads^  many 
ten  thousands  who  afterwards  were  converted 
and  believed  in  Christ.  (Acts  xxi.  20.) 

Paul  was  an  obstinate  blasphemer,  and 
bitter  persecutor;  yet  he  obtained  mercy, 
and  became  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, eminently  successful  in  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  Christ. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to 
these  questions  to  impress  his  mind  deeply 
with  the  conviction,  that  there  is  a  vast  dif- 
ference between  liability  to  exscision  from 
the  covenant  and  the  actual  and  permanent 
infliction  of  that  tremendous  punishment ; 


OBJECTIONS.  83 

and  to  disabuse  his  mind  from  the  impres- 
sion, wliicli  Mr.  TV.  wished  to  produce,  that 
no  hope  of  the  future  restoration  of  the  Jews 
can  be  entertained;  because  they  have  been 
expelled  from  the  covenant  for  1,800  years. 
The  language  which  Mr.  AY.  is  led  to  use, 
by  viewing  the  Abrahamic  covenant  as  a 
Will,  sounds  u.npleasantly  to  the  writer's  ear. 
He  talks  nhoiit  j^ccid  and  inipcdd  legacies  and 
hequests.  Such  words  seem  to  me  to  be 
unsuitable  to  the  dignity  of  the  subject ;  for 
what  legacy  or  bequest  of  a  spiritual  kind 
has  ever  been  paid.  Take,  for  illustration 
the  father  of  the  faithful.  What  was  prom- 
ised to  him,  while  3'et  on  earth?  "A  hea- 
venly country ;  a  city  which  hath  founda- 
tions, whose  builder  and  maker  is  God ;" 
which,  if  it  had  not  been  prepared  for  him 
and  his  sons,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  God  would 
have  been  ashamed  "  to  be  called  their  God." 
(Heb.  xi.  9, 10  ;  13—16.)  When  Abraham 
died,  this  promise  to  which  he  had  been 
earnestly  looking,  Avhile  on  earth,  began  to 
be  fulfilled.     It  was  also  promised\  that  he 


84  CONVEESION    OF   THE   JEWS. 

should  be  "the  heir  of  the  world;"  (Eom, 
iv.  13 ;)  and  this  also  has  received  an  incip- 
ient fulfilment. 

But  neither  promise  has,  at  this  distant 
day,  received  its  full  accomplishment. 

The  Millenium  is  yet  to  come  ;  the  spirit- 
ual seed  of  Abraham,  among  all  future 
nations,  in  that  glorious  period  of  light  and 
truth  and  grace,  must  be  brought  into  the 
church;  the  harvest^  the  harvest  of  souls,  is  yet 
to  be  reaped ; — the  last  trumpet  must  sound ; 
— the  dead  must  rise  ; — ^the  judge  must  "  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  ;"  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked  must  be  arraigned  before 
Him ;  the  sentence  must  be  pronounced  on 
the  righteous,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Fa- 
ther, inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you, 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world;" — the 
righteous  must  "  go  into  life  eternal."  (Mat. 
XXV.  81—34,  46.) 

And  will  the  promises  be  then  fulfilled  ? 
Oh!  no;  they  will  be  fulfilling  through  eter- 
nal ages ;  and  yet  never  fulfilled.  This  is 
their  crowning  glory  :  they  run  parallel  with 
eternity. 


OBJECTIONS.  85 

Use,  brother,  scripture  language.  Away 
with  "  paid  and  unpaid  legacies  and  be- 
quests ;"  they  clip  the  wings  of  the  imagina- 
tion, when  it  ought  to  soar  into  regions  of 
blessedness  that  have  absolutely  no  bounds. 

Eternal  holiness  and  eternal  happiness ! 
'\Vliat  a  subject  of  contemplation  for  an  im- 
mortal mind ! 


CIIAPTEK  Y. 

The  New  covenant  not  opposed  to  the  Abrahamic 
— ^Why  called  New — Illustrated — Sets  aside  the  Old 
— Incipient  fulfilment — More  glorious  fulfilment  future 
— Made  with  the  visible  Church — Promises  not  to  be 
taken  in  a  literal  and  absolute  sense — Jeremiah  xxxi — Line 
of  succession  remains  in  the  Visible  Church. 

In  the  course  of  this  review  of  Mr.  W.'s 
letters,  it  has  been  said,  he  does  not  under- 
stand correctly  the  New  covenant  of  which 
Jeremiah  speaks. 

To  show  that  this  has  not  been  spoken 
unadvisedly  and  without  foundation,  an  at- 
tempt will  now  be  made  to  explain  its  true 
nature.  Already  from  several  remarks 
thrown  out,  it  is  plain,  he  has  confounded 
the  Abrahamic  with  the  Old  covenant ;  and 
thus  set  the  new  covenant  in  opposition  to 
the  former. 

I.  It  may  throw  hght  on  the  subject,  if  we 
inquire,  why  this  covenant  is  called  a  Neio 
covenant  ? 

The  reason  cannot  be,  because  the  law 


OBJECTIONS.  87 

was  not  written  hy  God  on  the  hearts  of  any, 
till  the  operation  of  this  co vena] it. 

It  was  thus  written,  on  the  heart  of  Abra- 
ham, "  the  friend  of  God." 

It  was  thus  written  on  the  heart  of  Noah  : 
Of  him  the  Apostle  says,  "  B}^  faith  Noah, 
being  warned  of  God,  of  things  not  seen  as 
yet,  moved  with  fear,  prepared  an  ark  to  the 
saving  of  his  house  ;  hj  which  he  condemn- 
oxl  the  world,  and  became  heir  of  the  ridit- 
eousness  which  is  by  faith."  (Heb.  xi.  7.) 

It  was  thus  written  on  the  heart  of  Enoch, 
and  of  Abel.  See  Avhat  is  said  of  them  in 
Heb.  xi.  4,  5. 

In  fact,  the  law  was,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  thus  written  on  the  hearts  of 
all  who  became  pious. 

All  were  taught,  and  enlightened,  and 
sanctified,  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Not  one 
was  seen  walking  in  the  fear  of  God  and 
obeying  Him,  who  was  not  indebted  to  the 
Spirit  for  light  to  bring  him  out  of  his  native 
darkness,  and  for  grace  to  change  his  de- 
]>raved  nature. 


8S  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

It  is  denominated  a  New  covenant ;  be- 
cause, under  its  operation,  God  engaged  to 
bestow  bis  spirit  in  a  more  abundant  measure, 
on  bis  cburcb, — to  increase  ber  bgbt, — to 
enlarge  ber  privileges, — and  multiply  ber 
spiritual  members. 

Tbis  may  be  illustrated,  by  referring  to 
language  used  by  our  Eedeemer,  on  two 
occasions. 

"  In  tbe  last  day,  tbat  gTeat  day  of  tbe 
feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any 
man  tbirst,  let  bim  come  unto  me,  and  drink. 
He  tbat  believetb  on  me,  as  tbe  scripture 
batb  said,  out  of  bis  belly  sball  flow  rivers 
of  living  water.  (But  tbis  spake  be  of  tbe 
Spirit,  wbicb  tbey  tbat  believed  on  bim, 
sbould  receive  :  for  tbe  Holy  Gbost  was  not 
yet  given ;  because  tbat  Jesus  was  not  yet 
glorified.)     (Jobn  vii.  87—39.) 

Tbis  interpretation  of  our  Lord's  meaning 
by  tbe  Evangelist,  is  not  to  be  taken  literally 
and  strictly,  as  asserting  tbat  tbe  Holy  Spirit 
bad  not  been  before  imparted  to  tbe  cburcb  ; 
but  as  teacbing  us,  tbat  tbe  abundant  measure 


OBJECnONS.  89 

of  his  heavenly  influence  was  reserved,  till  the 
Redeemer's  glorification  ;  and  that  the  abund- 
ant effusion  of  the  Spirit,  was  to  be  granted, 
after  his  ascension  into  heaven  and  session 
at  God's  right  hand,  to  the  church,  as  his  cor- 
onation gift ;  and  thus  to  honor  Him,  who 
was  so  highly  exalted,  as  a  reward  for  his 
obedience  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross,  as  our  Mediator. 

On  another  occasion,  the  night  in  which  He 
was  betrayed,  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples : 
"  A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you, 
That  ye  love  one  another  ;  as  I  have  loved 
you,  that  ye  also  love  one  another."  (John 
xiii.  34.) 

This  commandment  was  not  absolutely 
new ;  for  one  gi^eat  commandment  of  the 
law  was  this  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thy  self."  And  we  have  seen  how 
the  Redeemer  explained  it,  in  reply  to  a  ques- 
tion presented  by  a  lawyer. 

John,  in  his  first  epistle  says,  "  Brethren,  I 
write  no  new  commandment  unto  you,  but  an 
old  commandment,  which  ye  had  from  the 


90  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

beginning.  The  old  commandment  is  the 
word  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  begin- 
ning. Again,  a  itew  commandment  I  write 
unto  you ;  which  thing  is  true  in  him  and 
in  you:  because  the  darkness  is  past,  and 
the  true  light  now  shineth.    (1  John  ii.  7.  8.) 

In  like  manner,  and  for  reasons  already 
suggested  above,  the  covenant  referred  to  is 
denominated  a  New  covenant ;  and  also  in 
reference  to  that  made  at  Sinai,  which  be- 
came Old^  by  the  introduction  of  the  New. 

But  it  contains  no  promise,  that  every 
member  of  the  visible  church  shall  be  regen- 
erated and  really  pious. 

II.  The  New  covenant  was  designed  to  set 
aside,  and  actually  did,  in  due  time,  set  aside 
the  Old  covenant  made  at  Sinai.  But  it  pro- 
duced no  essential  change  in  the  Abrahamic 
covenant.  With  this  ecclesiastical  covenant, 
the  New  is  in  perfect  accordance  ;  being  de- 
signed to  impart  to  its  operations  new  life, 
and  vigor,  and  greater  extent. 

The  Apostle  Paul  expressly  teaches  (Gal. 
iii.  29,)  that  all  true  christians  are  the  spirit- 


0BJECTI0X3.  91 

nal  seed  of  Abraham,  and  "  heirs  according 
to  promise ;"  the  great  promise  made 
to  him  and  to  his  seed  ;  and  all  true  chris- 
tians do  accordingly  receive  the  enlightening 
and  sanctifying,  comforting  and  strengthen- 
ing influence  of  the  Spirit,  (though  in  different 
degrees,)  engaged  to  be  granted  in  that 
promise  ;  and  they  will  through  life,  continue 
to  receive  the  blessed  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  and  at  death  will  be  conveyed,  by 
angels,  to  Abraham's  bosom,  in  the  heavenly 
countrv  to  which  he  has  gone.  And  all  true 
christians  do  jDarticipate  in  every  blessing 
specified  in  the  New  covenant,  in  the  degree 
appointed  to  each,  by  infinite  and  sovereign 
wisdom. 

III.  But  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  contemplated  in  other  prophetic  prom- 
ises, while  they  are  given  to  the  churchy  and 
are  intended  for  her  general  advancement, 
yet  do  not  belong  to  all  her  members  ;  that 
is,  all  do  not  receive  these  miraculous  gifts 
of  the  Spirit. 

This  subject  is  amply  treate<l  by  Paul,  in 


92  cox  VERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  (chap, 
xii.) 

That  these  promises  belong  to  the  visible 
churchy  is  manifest,  from  the  12  and  13th 
verses,  where  the  inspired  writer 'says,  "For 
as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members, 
and  all  the  members  of  that  one  body, 
being  many,  are  one  body :  so  also  is 
Christ,"  or  the  church.  "For  by  one 
Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  hody ; 
whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether 
we  be  bond  or  free  ;  and  have  been  all  made 
to  drink  into  one  Spirit."  And,  in  verses 
27 — 31,  he  says  :  Now,  3'e  are  one  hody  of 
Christ,  and  members  in  particular.  And 
God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first,  apos- 
tles, secondarily,  prophets,  thirdly,  teachers ; 
after  that  miracles  ;  then  the  gift  of  healing, 
helps,  governments,  diversities  of  tongues. 
Are  all  apostles?  are  all  prophets?  are  all 
teachers  ?  are  all  workers  of  miracles  ?  have 
all  the  gifts  of  healing  ?  do  all  speak  with 
tongues  ?  do  all  interpret  ?  But  covet  earn- 
estly the  best  gifts :  and  yet  show  I  unto  you  a 
more  excellent  wav." 


OBJECTIONS.  93 

Accordingly,  in  the  next  cliapter  he 
teaches  iis,  that  the  spiritual  and  sanctifying 
grace  of  the  Spirit,  is  more  to  be  desired,  is 
more  important  and  more  necessary,  than 
any  of  his  miraculons  gifts. 

A  careful  inspection  of  that  chapter,  will 
show  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  the  distri- 
bution of  diversified  gifts,  by  his  Spirit,  and 
in  the  differences  in  administration,  by  his 
Son,  our  Lord  ;  and  prove  that  all  his  opera- 
tions in  respect  to  spiritual  gifts  and  varied 
administrations,  are  designed  to  advance  the 
interest  of  his  visible  church,  as  well  as  to 
display  his  own  glory. 

lY.  Now,  let  the  reader  look  at  the  prom- 
ise contained  in  the  prediction  of  Joel,  quoted 
by  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  (Acts  ii. 
16 — 24  ;)  and  the  promise  to  which  he  refers 
in  the  38th  and  39th  verses  ;  and  he  will  see 
they  ai'e  not  identical ;  that  the  former  refers 
to  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  were  conferred  either  immediately  by 
God,  as  on  that  day,  and  when  Peter  preach- 
ed to  Cornelius  and  his  friends,   or  bv  the 


94  C0XVER,SIOX   OF  THE  JEAVS. 

instrumentality  of  tlie  Apostles,  on  sundr^^ 
occasions  recorded  in  tlie  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. (See  chap.  viii.  14 — 18.  xix.  6.) 

The  promise  referred  to  in  the  latter  case, 
was,  we  believe  the  great  'promise  in  the 
Abrahamic  covenant.  This  ^vas  exhibited 
and  directed  to  all  the  members  of  the  visible 
church  ;  but  fulfilled  only  to  true  believers  ; 
but  the  former  was  fulfilled,  comparatively 
speaking,  only  to  a  very  small  number  of  its 
members. 

Y.  Another  remark  on  the  New  covenant 
ought  not  to  be  omitted.  It  is  this  :  That 
although  its  fulfilment  began  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  has  been  carried  on  ever  since 
that  memorable  day,  yet  it  has  received  only 
an  incipient  fulfilment.  A  far  more  abund- 
ant and  glorious  accomplishment,  is  still 
future,  and  reserved  for  that  period,  of  which 
Isaiah  prophesies  in  his  eleventh  chapter ; 
when  universal  peace  and  righteousness  shall 
prevail  over  this  sinful  and  miserable  world ; 
when,  to  use  his  words,  "  The  earth  shall  be 
full  of  the  knowledirc  of  the  Lord,   as  the 


OBJECTIONS.  *Jo 

waters  cover  the  sea.  Aucl  in  that  da}^  there 
shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand 
for  an  ensign  to  the  people  ;  to  it  shall  the 
Gentiles  seek :  and  Ms  rest  shall  be  glori- 
ous." 

YI.  In  further  confirmation,  that  the  New 
covenant  was  to  be  made  with  the  visible 
church,  let  ns  look  at  the  81st  chapter  of 
Jeremiah.  There  in  verse  31st  it  is  expressly 
stated,  "  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with 
the  house  of  Israel^  and  with  the  house  of 
Judah  ;"  and  in  the  83rd  verse,  '^  But  this 
is  the  covenant  I  will  make  with  the  house 
of  Israeiy  Israel,  when  they  entered  into 
the  national  covenant  at  Sinai,  did  not  for 
the  first  time,  become  the  visible  church  of 
God  ;  they  were  his  visible  church  already  ; 
for  before  they  left  Egypt,  God  had  called 
them  his  people. 

Moses  was  sent  to  Pharaoh  with  this  mes- 
sage :  "  Thus  saith  the  LoED,  Israel  is  my 
son,  even  my  first  born :  and  I  say  unto 
thee.  Let  my  son  go,  that  he  may  serve  me  : 
and  if  thou  refuse  to  let  him  go,  Behold,  I 


96  CONVERSION   OF   THE  JEWS. 

will  slay  tliy  son,  even  thy  first  born."  (Ex. 
iv.  22,  23  ;)  And  in  chapter  vi.  7,  it  is  writ- 
ten, *'  And  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  peo- 
ple, and  I  will  be  to  you  a  Grod." 

From  these  citations,  it  is  apparent  that  a 
peculiar  relation  existed  between  Israel  and 
Grod,  before  the  establishment  of  the  national 
covenant,  at  Mount  Sinai. 

With  the  descendants  of  this  people,  and 
with  the  visible  church,  the  New  covenant 
was  to  be  made. 

Accordingly  we  find,  it  was  made  with 
the  visible  church,  after  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Jews  were  then 
the  visible  church ;  and  although  exposed, 
by  their  unbelief  and  rejection  of  Christ,  to 
the  penalty  of  exscision  from  the  covenant^ 
yet,  as  shown  before,  the  penalty  was  not 
inflicted  on  the  nation,  till  the  year  A.  D.  70. 

In  the  mean  time  the  change  of  dispensa- 
tion, and  the  establishment  of  the  New  Cov- 
enant, were  gradually  going  on.  By  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  God  was  writing 
the  law  on  the  hearts  of  many  Jews  and 


OBJECTIOXS.  97 

Gentiles  ;  and  clinnging  the  cliaracter  of  his 
visible  cliurch,  by  increasing  her  light,  and 
purity,  and  holiness. 

Thus,  the  promises  of  this  New  covenant 
received  their  incipient  fulfilment,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  fulfilled,  during  the  Apostolic 
period,  and  the  next  under  the  preaching  of 
their  successors  of  a  like  spirit.  The  power 
of  faith  and  the  purity  of  Christianity,  were 
eminently  displayed  in  the  church  ;  so  that, 
in  defiance  of  the  most  cruel  persecution, 
the  religion  of  the  cross  became  so  prevalent 
in  the  Roman  empire,  that  Paganism  was 
prostrated,  and  Christianity  gained  the  as- 
cendant, under  Constantine,  the  Great,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 

YII.  Let  it  be  remarked,  the  promises  of 
the  New  Covenant  do  not  engage,  that  every 
member  of  the  church  shall  be  a  regenerated 
person.  The  terms  are  not  to  be  taken  in 
an  absolute  sense.  They  engage  indeed  that 
the  church  shall,  as  said  above,  enjoy  in- 
creased light,  and  purity,  and  a  larger  meas- 
ure of  spiritual  influence.  In  this  manner 
they  have  been  fulfilled. 


98  CONVERSION   OF   THE  JEWS. 

FUTURE  FULFILMENT. 

But  there  is  a  period  in  future  history, 
when  these  promises  will  receive  a  far  more 
glorious  accomplishment,  than  in  any  preced- 
ing age.  The  "fulness"  of  Israel  will  come 
when  "  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be 
coming  in."  (Rom.  xi.  12  and  25.) 

It  is  written,  "  The  watchmen  upon  mount 
Ephraini  shall  cry,  Arise  ye,  and  let  us  go 
up  to  Zion  unto  the  Lord  our  Grod."  (Jer, 
xxxi.  6—9.) 

It  is  written,  "  He  that  scattered  Israel 
will  gather  him,  and  keep  him,  as  a  shepherd 
doth  his  flock.  (Jer.  xxxi.  10 — 14.) 

It  is  written  of  Rachel^  the  mother  of 
Joseph  and  Benjamin ;  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  ;  Refrain  thy  voice  from  weeping,  and 
thine  eyes  from  tears  :  for  thy  Avork  shall  be 
rewarded,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  they  shall 
come  again  from  the  land  of  the  enemy." 
(Jer.  xxxi.  15 — 17.) 

Uphraim^  the  head  and  representative  of 
the  Ten  Tribes,  is  yet  to  act  the  part  of  the 


OBJECTIONS.  99 

prodigal  son,  and  to  receive  from  his  Heav- 
enly Father  that  kind  and  loving  reception, 
depicted  with  so  much  beauty  and  feeling. 
(Jer.  xxxi.  18—21.) 

At  the  close  of  this  delightful  vision,  well 
might  the  mourning  Prophet,  Avho  had  here- 
tofore been  employed  in  painting  scenes  in 
dismal  colors,  and  in  denouncing  the  terrible 
judgments  of  God,  vrrite,  "  Upon  this  I 
awaked,  and  beheld ;  and  my  sleep  luas 
sweet  unto  me^   (Jer.  xxxi.  26.) 

Do  any  feel  disposed  to  inquire.  When 
shall  these  things  come  to  pass  ?  I  reply, 
Eead  what  is  written  at  the  end  of  the  thir- 
tieth chapter,  which  relates  to  the  same 
subject :  "In  the  latter  days,  ye  shall  con- 
sider it."  And  then  read  the  first  verse  of 
the  31st  chapter  ;  "At  the  same  time,  saith 
the  Lord,  will  I  be  the  God  of  all  the  fami- 
lies of  Israel^  and  they  shall  be   my  people." 

Let  the  reader  ponder  on  these  portions  of 
holy  scripture  in  their  connections  ;  and  he 
will  probably  conclude,  these  great  events 
will  bo  introductory  to  that  ulorious  millen- 


100  CON  VERSION  OF   THE  JEWS. 

ial  period,  wliicli  Isaiah  describes  in  his 
eleventh  chapter,  from  which  we  have  above 
cited  a  few  verses  ;  and  which  David  before 
him,  had  described  with  so  much  beauty  in 
the  72d  Psahn. 

And  will  he  not  be  willing  to  trace  all 
these  blessed  and  glorious  interpositions  of 
a  wonder-working  Providence,  to  the  sover- 
eign gTace  and  everlasting  love  of  God  to 
His  ancient  people  ?  as  Jeremiah  teaches  in 
the  third  verse  :  "  The  Lord  hath  appeared 
of  old  unto  me,  saying^  Yea,  I  have  loved 
thee  with  an  everlasting  love  ;  therefore  with 
loving  kindness  have  I  drawn  thee." 

If  the  above  exposition  of  the  New  cove- 
nant be  correct,  what  becomes  of  the  rule 
which  brother  Williamson  attempts  to  build 
on  it  ?  "  The  line  of  succession  is  to  be 
found,  not  in  the  church,  as  under  the  old 
covenant,  but  in  true  believers,  as  foretold 
by  Jeremiah." 

The  Abrahamic,  and  not  the  Old  or^Na- 
tional  covenant,  estabhshed  the  visible 
church ;    and   the   New  covenant  of  which 


OBJECTIONS.  101 

Jeremiali  speaks  lias  not,  as  proved,  repealed 
any  essential  article  of  the  covenant  made 
with  Abraham ;  and  instead  of  abolishing 
the  visible  church,  has  greatly  increased  its 
light,  and  privileges,  and  purity.  The  priv- 
ilege granted  to  God's  visible,  covenant 
people,  is  still  retained ;  the  line  of  succes- 
sion is  still  in  the  church.  God  still  blesses 
the  children  of  professing  parents,  and  pre- 
pares, by  his  grace  baptized  children  to  take 
the  place  of  their  fathers,  when  removed  to 
heaven. 

Surely  He  does  not  pass  by  his  visible 
church,  in  seeking  for  the  spiritual  seed,  and 
go  to  the  world  !  He  may,  when  He  pleases, 
^'  convert  the  children  of  the  Devil,"  the 
vilest  of  men.  But  this  is  an  exception^  and 
not  the  ride.  * 


Appendix  A. 


CHAPTER  YI 

Ample  discussion  of  the  subject  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans— Chapter  xi. — Twelfth  verse — Jews  a  nation — 
Conversion  of  a  number  did  not  diminish  them — Acknowl- 
edged as  a  Nation  by  Paul,  A.  D.  61  and  63 — Exscision 
not  till  A.  D.  70— Then  diminished. 

Having  riow  removed,  successfully  it  is 
hoped,  the  impediments  in  our  way,  we  re- 
turn to  tlie  proofs  to  be  found  in  the  i\a'itings 
of  Paul,  that  the  Jews,  as  a  people,  will  be 
converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  brought 
into  His  Church. 

In  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  we  find  an 
ample  discussion  of  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration. 

Having  in  the  first  chapter,  given  a  lamen- 
table and  humiliating  description  of  human 
depravity,  as  exhibited  in  the  conduct  of 
Gentiles,  the  Apostle,  turning  to  the  Jews, ' 
shows  that  they  had  no  reason  to  boast  on 
account  of  their  superior  light  and  knowl- 
edge; because,   by   abusing  the  favors  re- 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  103 

ceived  from  God,  tliey  had  rendered  tliein- 
selves  as  guilty  and  vile  as  the  Gentiles, 
(chap.  iii.  9.) 

Having  thus  prepared  the  way,  he  unfolds 
the  wonderful  plan  of  saving  sinners,  by  free 
grace,  through  the  obedience  and  death  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  offered  to  the  Jew  and  to  the 
Gentile ;  because  equally  needed  by  both. 

Owing  to  the  lamentable  ignorance  of  the 
Jews  of  their  own  scriptures,  and  of  the 
great  design  for  the  accomplishment  of  which 
the  Messiah,  for  whom  they  earnestly  looked, 
came ;  they  rejected  his  gratuitous  salvation, 
and  perseveringly  and  obstinately  relied  on 
their  own  worthless  righteousness,  and  re- 
fused to  accept,  by  faith,  the  righteousness 
of  Christ ;  by  which  alone  any  sinner  of  our 
fallen  race  can  ever  be  justified,  in  the  sight 
of  a  just  and  holy  God. 

The  sad  condition  of  the  great  body  of  the 
Jews,  afflicted  the  Apostle,  and  filled  his 
heart  with  grief,  which  he  expressed  in  the 
strongest  language,  (chap.  ix.  1 — 3.)  The 
unbelief  of  this  people  led  him  to  anticipate 


104  CONVERSION    OF    THE  JEWS. 

and  answer  an  objection,  that  some  might  be 
disposed  to  found  on  the  conduct  of  God's 
covenant  people.  He  shows  the  word  of 
God  had  not  been  ineffectual ;  and  that,  so 
far  from  being  disappointed  in  his  views, 
God  had  foreseen  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  predicted  all  the  events,  and  overruled 
all,  so  as  to  accomplish  his  own  holy  and 
merciful  purposes,  in  perfect  consistency 
with  the  free  agency  and  accountability  of 
his  creatures,  (see  chajD.  ix  and  x.) 

The  Apostle,  then,  (in  chap,  xi.)  proceeds 
to  show,  that,  although  God  had  always  ex- 
ercised His  sovereignty  in  bestowing  the 
spiritual  blessings  of  His  covenant,  on  His 
chosen  subjects,  yet  He  had  not,  and  never 
would,  "  cast  away  his  people  whom  he  fore- 
knew ;"  and  that,  in  times  of  the  greatest 
degeneracy  of  his  people.  He  always  had, 
and  would  have,  "  a  remnant  according  to  the 
election  of  grace.''   (vs.  1 — 5.) 

After  quoting  predictions  foretelling  the 
apostacy  of  the  Jews,  the  Apostle  asks  this 
(question:  "Have  they  stumbled  that  they 


Paul's  testimony.  105 

sliould  fall?"  (yr.  11.)  Will  they  never  rise 
again  ?  Mr.  Williamson  does  not  liesitate  to 
reply,  never ;  they,  as  a  people,  are  doomed  to 
serve  no  other  purpose  than  to  be  "  beacons  of 
warning,"  "  in  every  nation  where  the  Bible 
is  read."   (p.  9.) 

But  what  does  the  inspired  writer  say  ? 
"  God  forbid :  but  rather  through  their  fall 
salvation  is  come  unto  the  Gentiles,  for  to 
provoke  them  to  jealousy."  Is  not  this 
directly  opposite  to  oui'  brother's  reply? 
Does  not  Paul  repel  the  idea  of  their  total 
and  final  apostacy,  in  the  strongest  and  most 
emphatic  language?  They  have  for  ages 
been  suffering  the  curse  imprecated  on  them- 
selves ;  "  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our 
children."  For  1800  years  they  have  been 
expelled,  by  the  irrovidence  of  God,  from  the 
covenant  made  with  their  illustrious  fathers. 

But  still  they  will,  as  we  believe  Paul 
teaches,  be  recovered  from  their  wanderings, 
saved  from  their  wicked  unbelief,  and  by 
abounding  grace  be  restored  to  their  ancient 
covenant  relation,  and  enjoy  what  multitudes 
of  them  never  did,  its  saving  blessings. 


106  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

In  the  next  verse  (12tli.)  this  inquiry  is 
presented  :  "  ISTow  if  the  Ml  of  them  be  the 
riches  of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of 
them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles  ;  how  much 
more  their  fulness  f 

The  two  first  members  of  the  verse  are 
by  no  means  of  the  same  import.  The 
Jews  had  alread}^,  when  this  epistle  was 
written,  by  their  unbelief  and  wicked 
rejection  of  the  Saviour,  grievously  fallen 
from  covenant  obligations,  and  the  duties 
they  owed  to  God  ;  who  had  condescended 
to  take  them  into  so  near  and  honorable  a 
relation  to  Himself;  and  bestowed  upon 
them  signal  privileges  and  rich  instructions, 
that  "they  might  be  saved.  But  the  season 
of  forbearance  had  not  come  to  an  end ;  the 
penalty  incurred  by  their  infraction  of  the 
covenant,  had  not  been  inflicted,  by  their 
offended  Sovereign.  His  hand  was  lifted 
up ;  but  it  had  not  fallen  to  give  the  ftital 
stroke.     It  was  jet  suspended. 

They  had  fallen;  and  God,  in  infinite 
mercv,  had  ovorrulod  their  wickedness  for 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  iOV 

the  benefit  of  tlie  lieatlien  world.  He  had 
instructed  his  authorized  messengers  to 
preach  the  gospel,  first  to  the  Jews  and  then 
to  the  Gentiles.  In  obedience  to  his  com- 
mand they  presented  their  messages  of  grace ; 
and  when  the  Jews  rejected  them,  they  turn- 
ed to  the  Gentiles,  and  proclaimed  to  them 
the  salvation  of  Christ.  By  multitudes  it  was 
welcomed  and  eml^raced.  Thus  the  fall  of 
the  Jews  became  the  riches  of  the  world. 

In  all  places  the  unbelieving  Jews  violent- 
ly opposed  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and 
did  all  in  their  power  to  induce  the  heathen 
to  oppose  and  reject  it.  In  various  cities 
they  were  successful  in  exciting  persecution 
against  the  servants  of  Christ.  From  many 
places  they  were  obliged  to  flee  to  save  their 
lives. 

Still,  however,  they  were  not  diminished 
as  the  apostle  contemplated.  The  conver- 
sion of  a  few  to  the  Christian  faith  did  not 
at  all  diminish  the  strength  of  the  Jewish 
nation  ;  for  believing  Jews  constituted  a  part 
of  the  nation,  while  they  remained  in  Jeru- 


108  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

salem  and  Judea.  Paul,  in  his  speech  before 
FeHx  the  Roman  governor,  spoke  of  the 
Jews  as  a  nation  twice :  first  at  the  begin- 
ning, where  he  says,  "  For  as  much  as  I 
know  that  thou  hast  been  of  many  years  a 
judge  unto  this  nation^  I  do  the  more  cheer- 
fully answer  for  myself ;"  (v.  10 ;)  and  then, 
in  verse  17  where  he  says,  "  Now  after  many 
years  I  came  to  bring  alms  to  my  nation^  and 
offerings."  Thus,  about  the  year  A.  D.  61, 
many  years  after  the  time  Mr.  W.  contends 
the  nation  was  perpetuated  in  the  few  Jews 
converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the  Gren- 
tiles  added  to  them,  this  inspired  writer 
acknowledged  the  Jews  to  be  a  nation.  (See 
also.  Acts  xxviii.  19.) 

But  this  obstruction  to  the  gospel  was 
soon  to  be  removed.  The  suspended  stroke 
of  Divine  justice  was  about  to  fall  on  this 
infatuated  people,  Their  influence  and  pow- 
er the  apostle  foresaw  would,  in  a  few  years, 
come  to  an  end,  by  being  diminished  greatly 
in  number,  and  destroyed  as  a  nation. 

It   has  been   estimated   that,  in  the  war 


pall's  TESTIMO^sY.  109 

witli  tlie  Komans,  about  tlie  year  70,  which 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  their  capital 
city  and  boasted  temple,  and  devastation  of 
their  country,  as  many  as  1,100,000  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  alone  perished  by  famine, 
pestilence,  and  the  sword.  Vast  numbers  of 
the  Jews  were  dispersed  over  the  world,  sold 
for  the  most  contemptible  prices,  and  con- 
signed to  the  mines.  Everywhere  they 
became  objects  of  contempt. 

In  this  manner  were  they  greatly  dimin- 
ished. Thus  they  lost  the  power  and  influ- 
ence they  formerly,  ^vhile  existing  as  a 
nation,  possessed  for  obstructing  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel. 

Foreseeing  the  remoA  al  of  this  impedi- 
ment to  the  success  of  divine  truth  to  be  so 
near  at  hand,  the  inspired  writer  connects 
the  diminishing  of  the  Jews  with  their  fall ; 
and  contemplating  the  great  advantages  that 
would  result  to  the  world  from  these  unhap- 
py events ;  and  looking  into  the  far  distant 
future,  when  multiplied  and  converted,  they, 
instead  of  obstructing,   Avould  help  on   the 

4^ 


110  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

progress  of  the  truth :  he  exclaims  in  holy 
joy,  "  How  much  more  their  fulness  /" 

Would  any  person,  unbiased  by  the  influ- 
ence of  a  theory,  after  reading  this  passage 
thus  explained  in  correspondence  with  facts, 
and  looking  at  the  context,  hesitate  in  be- 
lieving the  word  fulness  is  to  be  referred  to 
Israel^  who  had  fallen  and  was  to  be  dimin- 
ished? Could  he  imagine  it  was  to  be 
referred  to  the  "  remnant  according  to  the 
election  of  grace,"  mentioned  in  the  fifth 
verse,  and  not  to  the  nation  denominated 
Israel  in  this  and  other  chapters  ?  Could  he 
confound  the  fulness  of  Israel^  spoken  of  in 
this  verse,  (12th,)  with  the  fulness  of  the 
Grentiles,"  in  the  25th  verse  ?  We  think  not. 

But  brother  W.,  misled  by  a  strange  theo- 
ry, has  given  this  most  erroneous  interpre- 
tation. 

On  page  116  he  makes  this  candid  ac- 
knowledgement:  "The  term  Israel  is  used 
some  thirty-five  times  in  the  New  Testament ; 
and  with  the  exception  of  its  use  in  this 
Epistle,  if  it  be  an  exception,  seems  always 


Paul's  testimony.  Ill 

to  refer  to  tlie  nation  of  Israel  in  distinction 
from  the  Grentiles."  Here  lie  notes  down 
some  twenty  places,  giving  chapter  and 
verse;  and  then  adds,  "In  all  these  cases 
we  think  it  will  be  admitted,  that  the  term 
Israel  is  used,  as  in  the  Old  Testament,  to 
distinguish  the  circumcised  Jcav,  or  all  Is- 
rael, from  the  Gentiles." 

On  the  same  page  he  notes  ten  places  in 
Paul's  epistle  to  the  Eomans,  and  is  con- 
strained to  write  on  the  next  page  thus: 
*'  Now,  if  the  ISTew  Testament  writers,  in- 
cluding Paul  himself,  used  the  term  Israel 
to  distinguish  the  circumcised  Jew,  both  be- 
liever and  unbeliever,  from  the  Grentiles, 
then  Paul  would  use  it  here  to  mean  the 
same,  unless  he  plainly  stated  that  he  did 
not ;  which  he  has  not  done.  On  the  con- 
trary," (fee.     This  is  candid. 

Had  all  this  evidence  satisfied  brother  W. 
there  would  have  remained  some  hope  for 
the  futee  conversion  of  the  unhappy  Jews. 
But  this  would  have  subverted  his  theory. 
An  effort  must  l:)e  made  to  save  it.     He, 


112  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

therefore,  struggles  against  tlie  true  and  nat- 
ural interpretation  of  particular  verses  in 
this  eleventh  chapter  to  the  Romans,  till,  by 
a  singular  train  of  reasoning,  he  plunges 
himself  into  (what  shall  we  call  it  ?)  an 
ahsurdity  I 

Referring  to  what  God  said  to  Elijah  the 
prophet,  when  greatly  discouraged:  (see 
bottom  of  page  120  :)  "  I  have  reserved  unto 
myself,  seven  thousand  men  who  have  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  the  image  of  Baal:"  he 
adds,  (top  of  p.  121,)  "  In  these  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  the  nation  of  Israel^  was  perpetu- 
ated :  so  now  the  seed  of  Abraham  are  per- 
petuated in  the  elected  remnant  of  verse  5 
and  7,  who  have  not  incurred  the  penalty  of 
exscision,  by  rejecting  Christ." 

Mr.  W.  let  it  be  remarked,  does  not  call 
"  the  elected  remnant,"  a  nation ;  but  this 
he  means,  as  is  manifest  from  the  quota- 
tion we  have  given  above,  and  from  his 
subsequent  curious  reasoning  :  till,  on  page 
123,  the  term  nation  escapes  ;  where  he  at- 
tempts to  prove,  that  although  "  nine  hun- 


Paul's  testimony.  113 

dred"  out  of  a  thousand  "  had  been  cut  off ;" 
jet  tliey  were  "five  thousand  and  one  hun- 
dred strong,"  by  the  accession  of  the  Gentiles. 
On  this  wonderful  statement  we  submit  a 
few  remarks. 

I.  The  event  referred  to  about  the  seven 
thousand  faithful  Israelites  in  whom  the 
Esraelitish  nation  was  perpetuated,  occurred 
in  the  year,  B.  C.  906  :  (see  Scott,  1  Kings 
xix.  18 :)  but  Samaria,  was  not  captured,  and 
the  nation  carried  away  as  captive,  by  the 
Assjrrians,  till  the  year,  B.  C.  721 ;  (see 
Scott  2  Kings  xvii.  6 ;)  nearly  200  years 
after  the  above  named  event, 

II.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  singular 
gj)ectacle  of  tv:o  nations^  running  in  two  par- 
allel lines  for  nearly  two  hundred  years: 
one  being  a  real  nation,  composed  of  many 
ten  thousands  idolatrous  Israehtes ;  the  oth- 
er, an  imaginary  nation  of  only  seven  thou- 
sand faithful  Israelites,  who  submitted  as  far 
as  conscience  allowed  them,  to  all  the  laws 
of  the  real  nation,  of  which  they  were  a 
constituent  ])art ;  and  according  to  Mr.  Ws 


114  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

representation,  more  than  one  hundred  years 
after  their  death. 

Let  the  reader  turn  to  2  Kings,  xvii.  18-23, 
and  he  will  there  see  written  concerning 
Judah :  "  There  was  none  left  but  the  tribe 
of  Judah  only.  Also  Judah  kept  not  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  their  God  ;  but 
walked  in  the  statutes  of  Israel,  which  they 
made.  And  the  Lord  rejected  all  the  seed 
of  Israel,  and  af&icted  them,  and  delivered 
them  into ,  the  hand  of  spoilers,  until  he 
had  cast  them  out  of  his  sight." 

III.  The  tribe  of  Judah,  or  the  Jewish 
nation,  continued  to  exist,  till  the  year  A.D. 
70,  and  then  ceased  to  be  a  nation,  inasmuch 
as  its  whole  civil  and  ecclesiastical  polity 
was  overturned,  and  the  people  were  not 
only  reduced  greatly  in  number  but  scat- 
tered over  the  world. 

IV.  In  opposition  to  known  historical 
facts,  Mr.  "W.  asserts,  the  Jewish  nation  was 
perpetuated  in  comparatively  a  small  num- 
ber, (100  to  1000,  according  to  his  supposi- 
tion, p.  120,)  together   with   5000   Gentile 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  115 

converts ;  and  thus  became  more  numerous 
tlian  the  existing  nation ;  for  they,  as  a  na- 
tion, existed  a  few  years  after  Paul  wrote 
his  epistle  to  the  Eomans,  on  which  he  bases 
his  calculation. 

V.  Had  Mr.  W.  recollected  the  words  of 
our  blessed  Lord,  when  he  uttered  his  sol- 
emn and  alarming  warning  to  the  Jews, 
would  he  not  have  been  afraid  to  take  his 
strange  position,  bringing  him  into  opposi- 
tion to  Him  who  said  "  I  am  the  truth."  At 
the  conclusion  of  a  parable,  the  Master  said 
to  them,  "  Therefore  I  say  u.nto  you,  The 
kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you, 
and  given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the 
fruits  thereof"  (Mat.  xxi.  43.  See  the  whole 
parable,  or  vs.  23^3.) 

YI.  All  the  assertions  of  Mr.  W.  are 
built  on  the  sand ;  a  strange  abuse  of  the 
common  meaning  of  the  term  nation^  which 
is  used  to  signify  a  people  inhabiting  the 
same  country,  and  living  under  tlie  same 
national  rulers  and  laws ;  as  this  Eepublic 
or  nation.  How  greatly  has  his  theory  led 
liim  astrav ! 


116  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

Neither  the  seven  thousand  Israelites,  nor 
the  one  hundred  Jewish  believers,  with  the 
^ve  thousand  Gentile  converts,  ever  became 
a  nation.  They  were  never  organized  as  a 
nation  ;  and  never  pretended  or  claimed  to 
be  a  nation. 

Mr.  W.  has  written  a  new  and  fabulous 
page  of  history ;  never  seen  before ;  and 
which,  it  is  believed,  will  never  be  regarded 
as  authentic. 

The  grand  result  of  all  his  singular  and 
erroneous  reasoning,  appears  on  page  125, 
where  he  writes:  "Thus  far,  then,  we  see 
nothing  like  a  direct  or  even  implied  asser- 
tion that  more  than  a  very  few  Jews  are  to 
return  to  the  church." 

We  rejoice  that  our  eyes  can  see  a  more 
delightful  prospect,  in  looking  through  that 
long  vista,  which  the  apostle,  we  believe, 
has  opened  before  us  into  the  coming  future. 

By  a  fair  construction  of  this  eleventh 
chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Eomans,  con- 
firmed by  what  he  has  Avritten  in  his  second 
opistlc  to  the  Corinthians,  it  is  confidently 


117 

believed,  a  far  more  cheering  conclusion  can 
be  reached  in  regard  to  God's  ancient  and 
long  beloved  people. 

"We,  therefore,  turn  again  to  the  twelfth 
verse  of  the  above  named  chapter,  which 
was  left  to  dispel  the  darkness  thrown 
around  it  by  the   "  letters  to  a  Millenarian." 

Let  me  previously  ask  the  author  to  in- 
form us,  how  numerous  this  Jewish  Christian 
nation,  scattered  among  many  nations  of  the 
world,  has  become,  at  the  present  time. 

But  as  this  would  impose  a  very  onerous 
task,  and  take  him  from  his  appropriate 
duties,  I  recall  the  request,  and  limit  it  to 
his  own  particular  church. 

Let  him  open  the  register  of  his  com- 
municants ;  and,  in  conformity  to  his  own 
new  and  established  rule[-of  "The  Line  of 
succession  in  true  believers,"  looking  over 
their  names,  tell  us  their  true  number. — 
"  This,"  he  may  say  "  is  one  ;  this  another  ; 
and  this  another."  He  begins  to  doubt ;  he 
hesitates  ;  his  sight  grows  dim.  The  dark- 
ness increases  upon   him.     Perplexed  he, 


118  CONVERSION   OF    THE    JEWS. 

abandons  the  attempt  in  despair,  and  leaves 
the  number  to  be  determined  b  j  the  Searcher 
of  all  hearts,  who  alone  can  determine,  with 
certainty,  who  are  His. 


CHAPTEK  YII. 

"  Their  fulness"  refers  to  Israel— Admission  of  Mr.  W. 
— His  singular  interpretation — Remarks  on  it — **  Life  from 
the  dead"  explained — Scripture  illustration  in  verse  l6th. 
— Me  Knight's  note — Covenant  at  Sinai  did  not  originate 
the  Visible  Church — Second  illustration — Neither  Peter 
nor  Paul  admitted  the  exscision  of  the  Jews  in  their  day — 
"  Some  of  the  branches  broken  off"  explained — Fear- 
ful condition  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

That  the  word  "/i^^ness,"  refers  to  Israel^ 
and  not  to  "the  elected  remnant,"  we  think 
is  now  settled.  Let  us,  then,  proceed  to  the 
next  verse,  where  Paul  says,  *'  For  I  speak 
to  you.  Gentiles,  inasmuch  as  I  am  the  apos- 
tle of  the  Gentiles,  I  magnify  mine  of&ce." 
He  knew  he  had  been  commissioned  by  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel especially,  though  not  exclusively,  to  the 
Gentiles. 

In  obedience  to  his  commission,  his  labors 
were  devoted  to  their  benefit ;  and,  therefore^ 
addressing  them  in  this  verse,  he  tells  them 
he  esteemed  his  commission  to  be  a  high 


120  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

honor  conferred  on  him,  for  which  he  was 
very  grateful  to  his  Master.  But  this  ac- 
knowledgment was  not  prompted  by  any 
improper  feelings  towards  his  own  country- 
men, whom  he  loved,  and  for  whose  salva- 
tion he  earnestly  prayed.  No  :  my  feelings 
are  entirely  different.  I  thus  speak  to  you 
Gentiles,  with  a  view  to  their  benefit.  "If 
by  any  means  I  may  provoke  to  emulation 
them  which  are  my  flesh,  and  might  save 
some  of  them  :"     (verse  14.) 

Paul  knew  the  inveterate  unbelief  and 
hardness  of  heart,  existing  among  the  Jews ; 
and,  therefore,  his  hopes  of  immediate  suc- 
cess among  them  were  not  sanguine.  Some, 
however,  he  thought  might  yet  be  won  by 
him ;  and  he  was  willing  to  use  every  means 
to  effect  their  salvatio'n. 

In  reference  to  th*^,  present  time,  his  hopes 
were  limited.  But  gifted  with  a  spirit  of 
prophecy,  he  saw,  in  the  distant  future,  a 
far  brighter  and  more  glorious  prospect. 
This  he  opens  to  our  view  in  the  fifteenth 
verse,  where  he   says:   "For  if  the  casting 


121 

away  of  tliem  be  the  reconciling  of  the 
world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be, 
but  life  from  the  dead?" 

Certainly  the  sacred  writer  does  not  in 
this  verse  speak  of  ''the  elected  remnant." 
They  had  not  been  cast  away;  they  had 
been  received.  Clearly  he  refers  to  Israel^ 
the  Jewish  nation,  who,  in  a  few  years,  were 
to  be  cast  away,  by  a  signal  infliction  of  the 
penalty  already  incurred  by  the  Providence 
of  God.  And  is  it  not  equally  clear,  that 
both  parts  of  the  verse  have  the  same  refer- 
ence, and  that  the  "word  ''^receiving'''  ap- 
plies to  Israel  or  the  Jewish  nation  who  were 
to  be  cast  away  ? 

The  future  reception  of  this  unhappy  peo- 
ple into  covenant  favor  by  Grod,  will  indeed 
be  "  ?i/e  from  the  deadV  Look  at  them. 
They  are  now  scattered  among  the  nations, 
retaining  their  peculiar  customs,  and  avow- 
ing the  religion  of  their  fathers.  They  re- 
ject their  promised  Messiah,  and  blaspheme 
his  blessed  name.  And  when  God  shall 
take  away  the  veil  of  unbelief  from  their 


122  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

minds,  and  convince  them,  as  he  did  Saul, 
that  Jesus  whom  they  persecute  is  the  Son 
of  God,  what  a  wonderful  change  will  it 
produce  in  them !  Looking  on  Him  whom 
they  have  pierced,  how  will  their  hearts 
break  with  anguish,  and  what  floods  of  tears 
will  flow  from  their  eyes  !  And  when  rec- 
onciled by  divine  grace  to  their  long  offend- 
ed sovereign,  how  will  they  rejoice  in  His 
forgiving  mercy !  How  will  they  long  to  do 
away  the  evil  of  their  past  unbelief!  And 
with  what  pleasure  will  they  declare  their 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  hold  Him  up  to 
the  admiration  of  the  nations  among  whom 
they  dwell ! 

To  the  Jews  it  will  be  a  real  resurrection 
from  death  in  trespasses  and  sin.  They  will 
receive  from  God  real  spiritual  life  ;  and  be 
enabled  to  perform  all  the  functions  of  this 
life.  They  will  love,  and  serve,  and  glorify, 
and  enjoy  Him. 

And  what  an  astonishing  influence  will 
their  conversion  have  on  the  nations  where 
they  dwell !    When  these  nations  shall  see  an 


123 

amazing  transformation  of  cliaracter  in  the 
Jews ;  see  tliose  who,  for  ages,  resisted  all 
the  power  brought  to  bear  on  them  to  change 
their  faith,  suddenly  abandoning  their  an- 
cient faith,  and  adopting  and  avowing  the 
Christian  faith ;  what  wonder  will  it  excite ! 
When  they  compare  the  event  with  scrip- 
ture predictions,  what  a  confirmation  will  be 
afforded  to  these  predictions ;  and  how  will 
the  truth  of  the  Bible  which  records  them 
flash  upon  their  minds !  Will  not  the  effect 
be  like  to  what  would  be  produced,  if  the 
Jews  had  actually  risen  from  the  dead,  and 
had  told  what  they  had  seen  in  the  world  of 
spirits?  Their  conversion  will  be  "life 
from  the  dead !" 

We  know  Abraham  said  to  the  rich  man 
importuning  him  to  send  Lazarus  to  his 
"  father's  house,"  ''If  they  hear  not  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  per- 
suaded, though  one  rose  from  the  dead." 
(Lid%:e  xvi.  27-31.)  Nothing  but  the  grace 
of  Grod  can  change  the  human  heart,  and 
inspire  it  with  a  living  faith.    But,  when  the 


124  CONVERSION  OF  THE   JEWS. 

fulness  of  the  Jews  shall  occur  in  connection 
with  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  there  will 
be  an  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  beyond  all 
former  measure,  and  a  wonderful  impulse 
will  be  imparted  by  his  agency,  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  both  by  Jews  and 
Gentiles. 

To  raise  our  expectation  of  this  great 
event,  the  sacred  writer  gives  a  scriptural 
illustration  of  it  in  the  sixteenth  verse  :  "For 
if  the  first^  fruit  be  holy,  the  lump  is  also 
holy :  and  if  the  root  be  holy,  so  are  the 
branches." 

Previously  to  giving  my  views  of  the  true 
meaning  of  these  illustrations,  I  wish  to  in- 
troduce what  the  apostle  says  of  our  Ee- 
deemer:  (in  1  Cor.  xv.  20:)  "But  now  is 
Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the 
first  fruits  of  them  that  slept."  He  was  the 
first  that  ever  rose  from  the  dead  to  immor- 
tal life ;  and  he  arose  from  the  dead  to  as- 
cend to  heaven  as  the  great  High  Priest  of 
the  Church,  as  the  Advocate  and  Forerunner 
of  his  people,  to  take  possession  of  mansions 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  125 

in  his  Father's  house  for  them ;  and  as  the 
pledge  of  the  future  resurrection  of  all  who 
slept  in  Him,  and  will  hereafter  sleep  in 
Him.  " But  every  man  in  his  own  order: 
"Christ  the  first  fruits;  afterward  they  that 
are  Christ's  at  his  coming."  (1  Cor.  xv.  23.) 
"  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  (John 
xiv.  19). 

The  apostle  James  writing  "to  the  twelve 
tribes  scattered  abroad,"  says,  "  Of  his  own 
will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth,  that 
we  should  be  a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  his 
creatures."  (James  1.  18.)  Those  who  were 
then  converted  by  divine  grace  and  brought 
into  the  covenant  of  Abraham  under  the 
Christian  Dispensation,  were  a  pledge  of  the 
vast  number  that  will  be  hereafter  brought 
into  the  same  blessed  and  covenant  relation 
to  God,  and,  being  regenerated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  be  finally  saved. 

But  to  return  to  the  two  scriptural  illustra- 
tions cited  by  Paul,  in  the  16th  verse  of  his 
eleventh  chapter  to  the  Komans.  Both,  I 
think,  are  to  be  referred  to  the  same  covenant 
made  with  Abraham,  in  different  aspects. 


126  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

Tlie  first  fruit  does  not  allude  to  the  waved 
sheaf,  as  Mc  Knight  suggests,  but  to  the  two 
wave  loaves;  which  are  expressly  called 
*'  the  first  fruits  unto  the  Loed."  (Lev.  xxiii. 
17.)  This  offering  was  made  "fifty  days" 
after  "the  sheaf  of  the  wave-offering"  was 
brought;  (see  verses  loth  and  16th  ;)  and  it 
was  to  be  taken  out  of  their  "  habitations," 
when  the  harvest  was  gathered,  (verse 
17th.) 

The  first  fruits  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant, 
were  peculiarly  acceptable  to  God ;  Abra- 
ham and  his  sons  Isaac  and  Jacob  ;  for  they 
were,  not  only  relatively  or  externally  holy  ; 
but  personally  and  really  holy  ;  being  regen- 
erated by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  true  be- 
lievers. Their  natural  descendants,  excepting 
those  who  were  cut  off  by  divine  directions ; 
(such  as  Islimael  and  Esau^)  remained  rela- 
tively holy. 

And  let  it  be  remembered,  that  personal 
holiness  was  always  the  effect  of  divine 
grace,  and  not  of  the  covenant.  Abraham 
was  personally  holy  before  the  covenant  was 


Paul's  testimony.  127 

established  with  him,  and  became  so  by  the 
regenerating  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Isaac 
and  Jacob  being  born  in  the  covenant, 
were  relatively  holy  from  their  birth ;  but 
they  were  not  personally  holy,  until  they 
were  made  new  creatures,  just  as  their  father 
Abraham  had  been  before  them. 

This  gTeat  covenant  continued  to  impart 
relative  holiness  to  all  the  natural  descend- 
ants of  these  illustrious  Patriarchs,  (excepting 
always  such  as  Avere  cast  out  of  the  covenant 
by  divine  direction,)  till  the  Ten  Tribes,  who 
formed  the  Israelitish  nation,  were  after  a 
long  period  of  forbearing  mercy,  cast  out  of 
God's  sight,  and  dispersed  among  the  na- 
tions, so  as  to  be  lost  and  unknown  to  Chris- 
tian nations. 

Its  merciful  operations  were  continued 
with  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  such  as  associa- 
ted with  them  from  Benjamin  and  other 
tribes,  denominated  the  Jev.dsh  nation. — 
Cured  of  their  propensity  to  open  idolatry, 
by  the  Babylonish  captivity,  they  continued 
to  be  recognized  as  God's  peculiar  people, 


128  COXVERSIOX    OF  THE    JeWS. 

and  distinguished  from  Gentile  nations ;  till 
for  tlieir  obstinate  rejection  of  Christ,  and 
persevering  disobedience  to  Him,  the  great 
Prophet  foretold  bj  Moses,  thej  were,  after 
a  season  of  forbearance,  destroyed  as  a  nation^ 
by  an  act  of  Divine  Providence,  in  the  year, 
A.  D.  70  ;  and  thns  cast  out  of  his  covenant 
and  disowned  as  his  people. 

In  the  meantime,  the  gospel  was  preached 
to  them  and  the  offer  of  mercy  and  salvation 
through  Christ,  tendered  to  and  pressed  on 
them.  Multitudes,  both  of  the  priests  and 
of  the  people,  believed  and  embraced  the 
gospel ;  and  were  together  with  very  many 
believing  Grentiles,  constituted,  not  a  nation^ 
but  an  organized  society,  living  in  a  church 
state,  under  the  operations  of  the  great 
Abrahamic  covenant ;  which  had  now  re- 
ceived, under  the  Christian  dispensation,  a 
great  increase  of  light  and  privileges,  and  a 
much  larger  measure  of  grace  and  heavenly 
influence. 

The  great  body  of  the  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles 


129 

were,  no  doubt,  not  only  by  profession,  but 
in  reality,  true  believers  and  real  saints. — 
These  first  fruits  of  the  covenant,  under  the 
new  or  Christian  dispensation,  were  peculi- 
arly acceptable  to  Grod,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  a  sure  pledge  of  the  future  harvest,  both 
of  Jews  and  of  Gentiles,  at  the  time  appointed 
by  infinite  wisdom  and  merc}^,  for  bringing 
in  "  the  fulness"  both  of  the  Jews  and  of  the 
Gentiles. 

The  second  scriptural  illustration  in  the 
verse  under  consideration,  is,  as  already 
stated,  to  be  referred  to  the  same  Abrahamic 
covenant  under  a  different  aspect.  McKnight 
has  a  note  on  it  of  some  value,  though  its 
parts  are  inconsistent  with  each  other.  "  And 
if  the  root  he  holy^  so  are  the  branches  .^^  This, 
he  says,  is  an  allusion  to  Jer.  xi.  16,  where 
the  Jewish  nation,  made  the  people  or  visible 
church  of  God  by  virtue  of  the  covenant  at 
Sinai,  are  represented  under  the  figure  of 
a  greeii  olive  tree,  of  which  Abraham  is  the 
roof,  and  his  descendants  by  Isaac  the  branches. 
Hence  the  thrusting  of  the  Jews  out  of  the 


130  COXYERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

covenant  of  God,  is  represented  by  the 
hreaking  off  of  the  hranches  ;  and  tlie  admis- 
sion of  the  Gentiles  into  that  covenant,  so 
as  to  make  them  God's  visible  church,  is  set 
forth  under  the  idea  of  their  being  ingrafted 
into  the  stock  of  the  green  olive  tree  ;  and  the 
advantages  which  they  enjoyed  in  the  church 
of  God,  are  expressed  by  their  partaking  of 
the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive  tree.  From  all 
which  it  is  plain,  that  the  holiness  of  the  root 
and  branches  of  the  green  olive  tree,  here 
mentioned,  is  that  external  holiness  which 
Abraham  and  his  posterity  derived  from 
their  being  separated  from  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, and  made  the  visible  church  of  God." 

It  is  never  to  be  forgotten,  that  the  holi- 
ness resulting  from  the  covenant  is  only 
relative  or  external;  just  like  that  holiness 
which  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  vii.  14,  attributes  to 
the  children  of  a  believing  parent,  by  which 
they  were  entitled  to  baptism,  the  christian 
seal  of  the  covenant. 

But  Mc  Knight  errs  in  representing  the 
holiness  and  church  state  of  the  posterity  of 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  181 

Abraham,  as  resulting  from  tlie  covenant  at 
Sinai.  We  have  ah^eady  shown  (pp.  95,  100) 
they  were  brought  into  a  covenant  rela- 
tion to  Grod,  and  constituted  his  visible 
church,  by  the  j^.brahamic  covenant,  estab- 
lished four  hundred  years  before  they  reached 
that  Mount ;  and  that  very  chapter,  (Jer.  xi.) 
to  which  he  says  there  is  an  allusion,  refers 
us  in  the  5th  verse,  to  this  very  covenant ; 
and  he  himself  shows,  at  the  close  of  his  note, 
that  Abraham  and  his  posterity  became  the 
visible  church  of  Grod  by  that  original  cove- 
nant, which  constituted  that  illustrious  Patri- 
arch the  "father  of  us  all." 

In  fact  the  covenant  of  Sinai  only  recog- 
nized and  confirmed  a  relation  that  already 
existed,  and  made  additional  provisions  and 
specific  rules  for  the  visible  church  of  God, 
that  had  for  several  hundred  years  been  in 
existence. 

This  second  scriptural  illustration  contains 
another  intimation  of  the  future  conversion 
and  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  the  privileges 
and  blessings  of  the  visible  church. 


182  CONVERSION  OF   THE  JEWS. 

Instead  of  pursuing  his  subject,  tlie  apos- 
tle stops  to  answer  an  objection,  wliicli  he 
saw  might  be  made  to  his  reasoning  by  a 
Gentile  christian.  Such  a  one  seeing  the 
deplorable  condition  of  the  Jews,  who,  by 
rejecting  the  Saviour  and  refnsing  to  obey 
his  command,  had  no  connexion  with  the 
Christian  Church,  would  feel  disposed  to 
say,  They  are  no  longer  branches  in  this 
olive  tree,  but  Gentile  believers  are. 

Let  the  reader  look  carefully  at  the  answer 
of  Paul  to  this  objection,  and  see  how  it  cor- 
responds to  the  representation  we  have  given 
of  the  condition  of  the  Jewish  nation  at  this 
particular  time.  They  had  by  their  unbe- 
lief incurred  the  penalty  of  exscision  ;  but 
the  penalty  had  not  yet  been  inflicted. 

The  threatening  denounced,  (in  Deut.  xviii. 
19,)  in  regard  to  the  great  prophet,  is  thus 
expressed :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
whosoever  will  not  hearken  unto  my  words 
which  he  shall  speak  in  my  name,  I  will  re- 
quire it  of  him."  This  threatening  is  thus 
explained  by  Peter  :    (Acts  iii.  23 :)    "  And 


133 

it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  soul  which 
will  not  hear  that  prophet,  shall  be  destroyed 
from  among  the  people." 

Now  it  is  perfectly  plain,  that  the  execu- 
tion of  the  threatening  had  not  been  inflicted 
on  the  nation,  when  Peter  explained  the 
meaning  of  the  Avords  of  Moses ;  for  the  na- 
tion was  still  in  existence,  and  Peter  was, 
by  divine  direction,  preaching  the  gospel 
among  them,  and  gathering  the  Christian 
church  ;  and  to  dispose  them  to  embrace  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation,  he  assured  them,  that 
^'  Grod,  having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent 
him  to  them  first,  to  bless  them  in  turning 
away  every  one  of  them  from  his  iniquities  ;" 
and  to  encourage  them  to  believe,  he  remind- 
ed them  of  their  covenant  relation  to  Grod : 
^ '  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  prophets,  and 
of  the  covenant  which  God  made  with  our 
fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham,  and  in  thy 
seed  shall  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth  be 
blessed." 

Nor  does  Paul  admit  the  penalty  had 
been  inflicted  on  the  Jewish  nation,  when  he 


184  CONVERSION    OF    THE  JEWS. 

wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Komans,  many  years 
after  the  address  of  Peter  to  the  Jews.  He 
knew  indeed  that  their  destruction  was  near 
at  hand,  but  the  period  of  divine  forbearance 
had  not  expired ;  and,  therefore,  he  express- 
ed himself  in  exact  accordance  with  facts. 
Hear  his  words :  "  And  if  some  of  the 
branches  be  broken  off,  and  thou,  being  a 
wild  olive  tree,  wert  grafted  in  among  them, 
&c."  Mark  he  does  not  say  the  nation  was 
broken  off,  but  some  of  the  branches. 

Are  any  disposed  to  inquire,  How  were 
some,  and  not  all  the  branches,  broken  off? 
We  reply,  as  the  nation  had  incurred  the 
penalty  of  exscision,  the  infliction  of  it,  as 
in  all  cases  of  general  prevalence  of  idolatry 
in  preceding  periods  of  their  history,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Grod.  Of  course  He  had 
a  right  to  inflict  the  penalty  or  not,  to  inflict 
it  immediately,  or  to  suspend  the  infliction- 
for  a  time,  just  as  He  pleased.  And  during 
the  suspension  in  regard  to  the  nation,  God 
could  inflict  the  penalty  on  individuals  who 
were  prominent  in  guilt,  and  active  in  mis- 
leading the  ])e<)]>lc. 


Paul's  testi^iony.  135 

So  in  times  past,  on  individuals  wlio 
escaped  punishment  from  the  rulers  of  the 
church,  God  doubtless  inflicted  j)unishment, 
by  remo^dng  them  from  this  world.  It  was 
made  the  duty  of  magistrates  to  put  false 
prophets  to  death.  (Deut.  xiii.  1-5.)  But,  in 
times  of  general  corruption,  this  duty  was 
neglected  ;  and  then  God  sometimes  inflicted 
punishment  in  some  remarkable  manner. 
(See  Jer.  xxix.  20-23,  30-32.) 

Nearly  thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord  to  the 
date  of  this  epistle  to  the  Komans  ;  and  dur- 
ing that  period,  many  of  the  chief  priests, 
scribes,  and  pharisees,  who  were  leaders  in 
the  opposition  to  Him,  would,  in  the  natural 
course  of  things,  if  not  by  special  providence, 
be  removed  to  another  world,  and  have  gone 
to  give  an  account  of  their  great  wickedness 
in  persecuting  the  Son  of  God. 

Yet  the  term  some^  and  not  many,  is  used 
by  the  inspired  writer  in  the  seventeenth 
verse. 

In  the  followino-  verses.  (17-22,)  the  apos- 


136  COXVEESION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

tie  reminds  the  believing  Eomans  of  their 
obligations  to  the  Jews  into  whose  church 
thej  had  been  introduced,  and  of  the  great 
privileges  and  blessings  thej  enjoyed  from 
their  standing  in  it ;  and  that,  as  they  were 
admitted  as  members  by  faith  in  Christ,  so 
they  could  remain  members  only  by  the 
continued  exercise  of  faith.  He  inculcates 
the  necessity  of  humility  of  mind,  and  warns 
them,  that  if  they  fail  in  profiting  by  their 
peculiar  spiritual  advantages,  they  would 
incur  such  guilt  as  might  provoke  God  to 
treat  them  with  the  severity  exercised  to- 
wards the  offending  Jews,  and  finally  cast 
them  away  as  dead  branches  from  the  good 
olive  tree,  fit  only  to  be  burned  up  in  the 
fire. 

Alas!  the  fearful  consequences  of  not  con- 
tinuing to  give  heed  to  this  solemn  warning  ! 

The  believing  Eomans  occupied  a  distin- 
guished place  of  residence.  Eome  was  then 
the  Mistress  of  the  world,  the  centre  of  civili- 
zation, learning,  wealth,  and  the  arts.  Their 
faith  and  piety  qualified  them  for  a  residence 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  137 

in  tlie  world's  cajDital.     What  a  high  com- 
mendation is  jDassed  on  them  by  the  great 
apostle  !     "  To  all  that  be  in  Eome,  beloved 
of  God,  called  to  be  saints :  Grace  to  you, 
and  peace  from  God  our  Father,   and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.     First,   I  thank  my  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  for  you  all,  that  your 
faith   is   spoken   of  throughout  the   whole 
world."  (Chap.  i.  7-8.)     The  faith  and  piety 
of  this  church  continued  to  flourish  through 
bitter  seasons  of  terrible  persecutions.     But 
when  Christianity  had  gained  the  ascendant 
over  Paganism,  and  even  before,  this  church 
became  infected  with   ambition,    and  soon 
sadly   declined  in   faith   and  piety.      And 
what  is  it  now  ?  The  Synagogue  of  Satan  ! 
John  in  the  Apocalypse  has  drawnher  char- 
acter,   and    written    it    on   her   forehead: 
^'MYSTERY,  BABYLON  THE  GREAT 
THE   MOTHER    OF   HARLOTS    AND 
ABOMINATIOiSrS   OF    THE   EARTH." 
(Rev.  xvii.  5.)     And  he  has  pronounced  her 
doom :  ''  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen,  is 
fallen,  and  is  become  the  habitation  of  devils, 


188  CONVEESION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

and  the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage 
of  every  unclean  and  liateful  bird."  (Chap, 
x^dii.  2-8.)     See  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

The  prophetic  history  of  this  same  vile^ 
idolatrous,  persecuting,  and  anti-christian 
power  of  Eome,  was  written  by  the  apostle 
Paul,  under  a  different  name  and  character, 
more  than  thtrti/  years  before  John  wrote 
his.  * 

Paul,  in  his  second  epistle  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  gives, 

First;  the  name  and  character  of  this 
power  :  "  That  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the 
son  of  perdition :  who  exalte th  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  wor- 
shipped ;  so  that  he  as  God  sitteth  in  the 
temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is 
God."  (vs.  3-t.) 

Second ;  the  means  by  which  this  power 
was  formed :  "  Whose  coming  is  after  the 
working  of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs 
and  Ijdng  wonders  ;  and  with  all  deceivable- 

*  The  2d  epistle  to  Thess.  was  written  A.  D.  oG,  and 
the  Revelations,  A.  D.  95. 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.    .  139 

ness  of  umigliteoiisness  in  them  that  perish; 
because  they  received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  And  for 
this  cause,  God  shall  send  them  strong  delu- 
sion, that  they  should  believe  a  lie;  that 
they  all  might  be  damned  who  believed  not 
the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrigteous- 
ness."  (vs.  9-12.) 

Third;  the  ruin  of  this  power:  "And 
then  shall  that  Wicked  be  revealed,  whom 
the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his 
mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with  the  bright- 
ness  of  his  coming."  (vr.  8.) 


CHAPTER  Ylir. 

Conversion  of  the  Jews — Objections — Answered — Plain- 
ly taught  by  Paul  in  Rom.  xi. — Wonderful  Plan  of  Infinite 
Wisdom  and  Mercy — Confirmed  by  Paul's  teachings  in 
2  Cor,  iii.  12-18. 

Having  given  a  solemn  warning  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  the  apostle  resumes  his 
subject,  and  encourages  our  hope  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews,  their  restoration  to 
their  own  church,  and  enjoyment  of  its 
privileges  and  blessings  under  the  Christian 
dispensation. 

Conversion  of  the  Jews !  exclaims  our 
brother  W.  What,  after  having  been  exscind- 
ed for  1800  years,  from  the  covenant,  shall 
this  wicked  people,  these  "  children  of  the 
Devil,"  be  taken  into  covenant  again !  "  shall 
they  take  a  prominent  and  separate  stand  at 
the  head  of  the  church"  and  "  receive  rich 
blessings,  which  the  belie\dng  Jews  have 
forfeited  to  their  descendants  by  becoming 
Christians  ?"    Shall  thev  be  treated  and  re- 


141 

warded  thus,  "  because  they  have  rejected 
Christ  ?"  (See  p.  146.)  No,  no;  "They 
will  always  stand  before  the  eyes  of  the 
world  as  a  proof  of  the  consequence  of  the 
sin  of  rejecting  Christ,  just  as  the  plates  on 
the  covering  of  the  tabernacle  did  of  the  sin 
of  Korah  and  his  company  in  rebelling 
against  God.  These  were  placed  before 
them  as  a  warning,  till  the  service  of  the 
tabernacle  ceased."  (See  pp.  145,  146.) 

What  strange  language  is  this  !  Who  ever 
imagined,  much  less  asserted,  that  the  be- 
lieving Jews  have  forfeited  rich  blessings  to 
their  descendants,  by  becoming  Christians  ! 
Who  ever  taught,  that  the  future  conversion 
of  the  Jews  and  return  to  the  church,  would 
be  a  reward  of  their  great  sin  in  rejecting 
Christ ! 

The  Gentiles  have  been  brought  into  the 
Christian  church  ;  did  they  receive  this  sig- 
nal blessing  as  a  reward  for  ages  of  sottish 
idolatrv  and  shameless  wickedness  ?  or  was 
this  unutterable  blessing  granted  to  them  to 
signalize  the  riches  of  God's  sovereign  grace  ? 


142  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

And  may  not  God  display,  in  like  manner, 
at  a  future  period,  towards  tlie  descendants 
of  the  present,  wicked,  and  unbelieving 
Jews,  the  same  infinite  grace,  by  regenera- 
ting them  by  his  Spirit,  and  working  faith 
in  their  hearts  ? 

Can  the  many  ages  during  which  the  Jews 
have  lived  in  unbelief  and  been  expelled 
from  covenant  relation  to  God,  be  pleaded 
against  their  future  return  ?  How  many 
more  ages  had  the  Gentiles  lived  in  the  most 
debased  idolatry,  and  how  vile  their  charac- 
ter, (see  Eom.  i.  1  Cor.  vi.  9-11,)  when  God 
was  pleased  to  call  them,  by  his  gospel  and 
introduce  them  into  his  church  ? 

The  foresight  of  ages  of  obstinate  mibe- 
lief  in  the  Jews  formed  no  objection  to  their 
future  restoration  in  the  Apostle's  mind  ;  for 
he  says,  "  And  they  also,  if  they  abide  not 
in  unbelief,  sltall  be  grafted  in :  for  God  is 
able  to  graft  them  in  again.  For  if  thou 
werfc  cut  out  of  the  olive  tree  which  is  wild 
by  nature,  and  wert  gi^afted  contrary  to  na- 
ture into  a  good  olive  tree  ;  how  much  more 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  143 

shall  these,  whicli  be  the  natural  branches, 
be  grafted  into  their  own  olive  tree  ?"  (vs. 
23-24.) 

jSTo  one  can  doubt  the  ability  or  the  w^- 
lingness  of  a  merciful  God  to  restore  his 
ancient  people  to  covenant  favor,  if  they 
shall  hereafter  repent  and  believe.  But  will 
thej  repent  and  believe  ?  Hear  what  Paul 
says  in  the  next  (2oth)  verse  :  "  For  I  would 
not,  brethren,  that  ye  should  be  ignorant  of 
this  mystery,  lest  ye  be  wise  in  your  own 
conceits ;  that  blindness  in  part  is  happened 
to  Israel,  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles 
be  come  in." 

Is  not  this  plain  enough  to  teach  us  what 
we  are  to  beheve  ?  Would  the  apostle  have 
spoken  thus,  if  he  believed,  as  Mr.  W.  does, 
that  the  Jews  "  will  now,  as  always  stand 
out,  in  every  nation  where  the  Bible  is  read, 
as  beacons  of  warning  to  them  ?"  (p.  9.) 

May  we  not  take  encouragement  from  his 
language  to  hope,  that  God  will  hereafter 
grant  to  the  Jews  "repentance  unto  life,"  as 
He  did,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  the 


144  CONVERSION  OF    THE    JEWS. 

believing  Jews,  to  the  Gentiles  ?  (Acts  xi, 
18.)  Is  not  tlieir  blindness  to  terminate  Avith 
the  harvest  of  souls  to  be  reaped  among  the 
Gentiles  ? 

Does  not  the  following  language  confirm 
this  interpretation  of  the  apostle's  meaning  ? 
"  And  so  all  Israel^  whether  Jewish  or  Gen- 
tile believers,  shall  be  saved  :  as  it  is  written, 
There  shall  come  out  of  Sion  the  Deliverer, 
and  shall  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob  : 
for  this  is  my  covenant  imto  them,  when  I 
shall  take  away  their  sins,"  (vs.  26-27.) 
The  Redeemer  shall  come  out  of  Sion,  his 
church,  his  kingdom,  and  visit  with  his 
grace  the  Jews,  the  children  of  Jacob,  and 
turn  them  from  the  great  sin  of  unbelief ;  and 
these  wonderful  displays  of  his  grace  will 
be  in  conformity  to  the  perpetuity  of  the 
covenent  made  with  Abraham,  in  whic  hit  is 
written,  "  to  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy 
seed  after  thee."  (Gen.  xvii.  7.) 

In  the  same  strain  of  encouraging  lan- 
guage the  apostle  adds  in  the  next  verse  : 
(28 ;)     "  As  concerning  the  gospel,  they  are 


145 

enemies  for  your  sakes."  God  had  designs 
of  mercy  toward  you  Gentiles ;  and,  there- 
fore, to  accomphsh  his  gracious  purpose,  He 
permitted  them  to  act  out  their  enmity  to 
the  gospel,  that  its  tidings  of  salvation  might 
be  carried  the  more  speedily  to,  and  be  em- 
braced by  you;  and  that  you  might  be 
brought  into  the  church,  and  enjoy  its  dis- 
tinguished blessings.  But  remember,  that 
their  blindness,  although  deplorable  indeed, 
yet  is  not  total ;  it  affects  a  part,  not  the  whole 
people  in  all  coming  generations. — "  There 
is  now  a  remnant  according  to  the  elec- 
tion of  grace."  When  God  chose  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  He  acted,  in  a  sovereign 
manner,  in  bestowing  His  favors  on  them  ; 
and,  in  the  exercise  of  His  sovereign  preroga- 
tive, He  has  dealt  with  their  natural  descend- 
ants. He  has  never  forsaken  them,  so  as  to 
cast  them  all  away.  There  is  still  a  people 
whom  He  foreknew  :  and  such  a  peoj^le  mil 
be  found  in  every  age,  till  "  their  fullness ;" 
and,  then,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  Jews,  as 
a  people,  are,  in  the  coming  generations, 
"beloved  for  the  father's  sake." 


1^1:6  CONVERSION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

And  all  this  will  occur,  because  "  the  gifts 
and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance." 
(v.  29.)  His  covenant  with  Abraham  is 
.everlasting  in  both  parts  ;  in  that  which  re- 
spects spiritual  blessings,  and  in  that  which 
secures  to  his  descendants  external  or  tem- 
poral blessings. 

In  confirmation  of  this,  it  is  added,  "  For 
as  ye  in  times  past  have  not  believed  God, 
yet  have  now  obtained  mercy,  through  their 
unbelief :  even  so  have  these  also  now  not 
believed,  that  through  your  mercy  they  may 
also  obtain  mercy.  For  God  had  concluded, 
shut  up,  "  all  in  unbelief"  that  he  might 
have  mercy  on  all."  (vs.  30-32.)  How 
plain  is  this ! 

The  plan  of  infinite  wisdom  was  laid,  so 
as  to  aflbrd  the  greatest  display  of  mercy ; 
so  as  to  convince  every  attentive  mind,  that 
salvation  through  Christ  is  the  result  of  sov- 
ereign grace.  God  was,  therefore,  pleased 
to  leave,  first^  the  Gentiles  to  the  blinding  in- 
fluence of  an  unbelieving  and  wicked  heart ; 
and  after  thus  giving  thein  up  to  their  own 


Paul's  testimony.  147 

perverse  ways,  for  ages,  to  overrule  the 
apostacy  of  his  own  covenant  people,  for 
sending  the  invitations  of  the  gospel  to  the 
Gentiles :  and  then,  secondly^  by  the  favors 
shown  to  Gentiles,  whom  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  despise  as  uncircumcised  and  desti- 
tute of  divine  favor,  to  convince  them  of 
their  folly ;  and  thus  bring  them  to  a  partic- 
ipation of  the  mercy  in  which  those  who, 
during  so  many  past  ages,  had  not  been  the 
people  of  God,  were  now  rejoicing. 

In  contemplating  this  wonderful  mj'stery 
of  the  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence  and 
grace  towards  our  fallen  race,  in  regard  to 
matters  of  the  highest  interest  to  them,  as  ra- 
tional, immortal,  and  accountable  creatures, 
thus  revealed  by  an  inspired  writer  ;  who  is 
not  ready  to  exclaim  with  him  :  "  0  the  depth 
of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge of  God !  how  unsearchable  are  his 
judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out ! 
For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ? 
or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor  ?  Or  who 
hath^first  given  to  him,  and  it  shall  be  rec- 


148  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

ompensed  unto  him  again?  For  of  liim, 
and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things : 
to  whom  be  glorj  for  ever.  Amen."  (vs. 
33-86.) 

Let  the  reader  now  turn  to  2  Cor.  iii.  12- 
18,  and  he  will  lind  there  recorded  the  tes- 
timony of  Paul  on  this  interesting  subject, 
that  not  only  harmonizes  with  his  testimony 
in  his  epistle  to  the  Eomans,  but  corrobo- 
rates strongly  the  interpretation  we  have  put 
on  it. 

Having  shown  how  superior  the  Christian 
dispensation  is  to  that  of  Moses,  the  sacred 
writer  says  :  "  Seeing  then  that  we  have  such 
hope,  we  use  great  plainness  of  speech :  and 
not  as  Moses,  which  put  a  vail  over  his  face, 
that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  stead- 
fastly look  to  the  end  of  that  which  is  abol- 
ished; but  their  minds  were  blinded:  for 
until  this  day  remaineth  the  same  vail  un- 
taken  away  in  the  reading  of  the  old  Testa- 
ment ;  which  vail  is  done  away  in  Christ. 
But  even  unto  this  day,  when  Moses  is  read, 
the  vail  is  upon  their  heart.     Nevertheless, 


PAUL'S  TESTIMONY.  149 

wlien  it  (Israel)  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the 
vail  shall  be  taken  away.  Now  the  Lord  is 
that  Spirit;  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.  But  we  all,  with 
open  face,  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

Is  not  this  plain  ?  Are  we  not  taught  in 
this  passage  of  holy  scripture,  that  the  vail 
that  has  so  long  covered  the  minds  of  the 
Jews,  and  concealed  from  them  the  true 
meaning  of  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, shall  be  removed  by  the  teachings 
and  gracious  influences  of  the  spirit  of  God  ; 
and  that,  then,  by  understanding  the  true 
meaning  of  Moses  and  other  prophets,  they 
will  see,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  their 
fathers,  blinded  by  unbelief,  wickedly  re- 
jected and  crucified,  is  indeed  the  true  and 
long  promised  Messiah?  Will  they  not 
acknowledge  Him  with  penitence,  gratitude, 
and  joy,  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour;  and  be 
received  into  the  Christian  Church,  re-estab- 


150  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

lished  in  covenant  relation  to  God,  and 
enjoy  greater  light,  richer  privileges,  and  a 
larger  measure  of  spiritual  influence,  than 
their  fathers  ever  enjoyed?  With  what 
deep  abasement  of  soul  and  self  loathing, 
will  they  mourn  over  their  past  unbelief  and 
enmity  to  the  gospel  ?  and  with  joy  will 
they  proclaim  Christ  as  their  Lord,  and 
Master,  and  Saviour,  and  long  for  the  arri- 
val of  that  time,  when  all  nations  shall  haU 
Him  Lord  of  all  ? 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land — Remarks  on 
paragraphs  of  Mr.  W. — Testimony  of  Moses — Deut. 
xviii.  15-19— Deut.  xxviii.  explained — Quotation  from  Bp. 
Newton. 

SECOND    POSITION. 

The  Jews  will  he  restored  to  their  own  land 
and  reorganized  there  as  a  nation. 

This  is  utterly  denied  by  Mr.  Williamson. 

"We  have  had  occasion  more  than  once  to 
remark  on  his  want  of  discrimination  and 
his  singular  reasoning.  And  in  this  part  of 
the  discussion  the  same  fault  will  be  seen. 

His  tenth  letter,  which  begins  his  argu- 
ments, founded  on  the  predictions  of  the 
Old  Testament  prophets,  commences  \x\ih. 
this  paragraph : 

"  Having  seen  that  the  present  nation  or 
people  called  the  Jews,  have  forfeited  all 
claim  to  the  character  or  title  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  and  heirs  to  the  promises  made  to 
him  and  to  his  seed,  and  that  according  to 


152  COXVERSIOX   OF  THE  JEWS. 

Christ  anil  Paul,  tliose  who  are  in  Christ  are 
now  the  seed  and  heirs  of  Abraham  ;  it  fol- 
lows that  whatever  the  j^rophets  have  said 
of  bequests  yet  due  to  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
they  have  said  of  true  believers,  whom  Paul 
says  are  now  Abrah-am's  heirs." 

On  this  paragraph  we  remark,  that  both 
the  premises  and  the  conclusion  are  express- 
ed in  an  obscure  and  incorrect  manner. 

1.   The  j^remises  are  obscure  and  incorrect. 

The  Jews  certainly  are  the  natural  seed 
of  Abraham,  though  not  his  sjnritual  seed. 
This  distinction  was  made  by  our  Lord  in 
his  controversy  with  the  Jews.  (John  viii. 
37-39.)  And  it  ought  to  have  been  made 
by  the  writer  of  the  paragraph  just  quoted. 

True  believers  are  never  in  the  scriptures 
called  "  heirs  of  Abraham  ;"  nor  could  they, 
with  propriety,  be  so  stjded.  They  are 
"  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ." 
God  is  their  father,  and  they  are  his  heirs. 
In  Gal.  iii.  29,  to  vdiich  our  brother  has  fre- 
quently referred,  they  are  not  called  Abra- 
ham's heirs,  but  only  Abraham's  seed,  and 


153 

''  heirs  according  to  the  promise."  Abra- 
ham was  an  heir  to  this  great  promise  of 
the  covenant,  as  well  as  his  believing  seed. 

How  exactly  does  this  accord  with  the 
language  of  the  same  Apostle  in  his  epistle 
to  the  Romans?  (Chap.  iv.  13.)  "  For  the 
promise,  that  he  should  be  the  heir  of  the 
world  was  not  to  Abraham,  or  to  his  seed, 
through  the  law,  but  through. the  righteous- 
ness of  faith."  This  promise  was  made  to 
Abraham's  believing  seed,  as  well  as  to  him- 
self;  and  both  receive  the  promise  or  its 
fulfilment  in  the  same  way,  "through  the 
righteousness  of  faith."  So  the  great  prom- 
ise of  the  covenant  made  to  Abraham  and 
to  his  seed  :  "  To  be  a  God  unto  thee,  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee."  (Gen.  xvii.  7.) 

We  have  already  expressed  our  disappro- 
bation of  styling  this  covenant  a  Will  or 
Testament ;  because  it  is  never  so  called  by 
inspired  writers.  (See  p.  79-85.) 

But  brother  "\Y.  constantly  styles  it  so, 
and  speaks  of  legacies  and  bequests ^  paid  and 
unpaid.     Correct    views    of   the    covenant 


154  CONVERSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

miglit  have  taught  him  the  impropriety  of 
denominating  believers  "  Abraham's  heirs  ;" 
for  it  was  not  Abraham's  but  God's  Will ; 
and  Abraham  was  but  a  legatee :  not  how- 
ever, as  happens  in  human  affairs.  God  did 
not  bestow  on  him  the  spiritual  blessings  of 
the  covenant,  so  as  to  give  him  the  right  of 
determining  to  whom  they  should  be  dis- 
tributed after  him.  This  God  reserved  to 
Himself.  Faith  is  His  gift ;  and  they  only 
become  heirs,  to  whom  He  is  pleased  to  im- 
part faith  :  "  even  (to  use  Peter's  words,)  as 
many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."  (Acts 
ii.  39.) 

2.  Similar  remarks  might  be  made  in  re- 
gard to  the  conclusion  in  the  above  quoted 
paragraph. 

When  Mr.  W.  shall  have  written  his 
premises  and  his  conclusion,  more  distinctly 
and  more  correctly,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
examine  what  follows  :  "  It  is  not  perceived 
how  this  conclusion  can  be  avoided,  if  the 
premises  are  fairly  established."  We  only 
remark  that  the  obscurity  of  his  vision, 
could  not  but  mislead  him. 


OBJECTIONS.  155 

So  it  lias  happened.  In  the  next  para- 
graph, by  way  of  testing  the  soundness  of 
his  argument,  he  makes  what  seems  to  us  a 
strange  and  uncalled  for  supposition ;  and 
then  concludes  his  supposition  or  argument 
on  it  thus :  "  May  we  not  safely  say,  that 
whatever  the  prophets  did  teach,  they  did 
not  thus  encourage  the  Jews  to  reject  Christ? 
They  did  not  give  the  blessings  promised  to 
the  rebels  and  disinherit  the  friends  of 
Christ." 

Now,  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  ques- 
tion, Has  God  foretold  that  the  Jews,  as  a 
people,  shall  be  converted  and  introduced 
into  the  Christian  Church  f 

God  had  foretold,  by  the  prophet  Ilosea^ 
B.  C.  784  years,  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles 
into  the  Christian  Church  and  participation 
in  all  the  blessings  of  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant. (See  Rom.  ix.  24-26.)  This  certainly 
had  no  tendency  to  keep  them  in  rebellion, 
or  "  disinherit  the  friends  of  Christ." 

What  "previous  established  facts"  Mr. 
W-  refers  to,  on  page  102.  T  oaniiot,  for  rea- 


156  EESTORATION   OF  THE   JEWS. 

sons  already  assigned,  "understand  ;  nor  shall 
I  stop  anj  longer  to  inquire.  But  the  great 
fact  he  wishes  to  be  conceded  in  this  discus- 
sion, must  be  refused.  He  assumes  that  the 
Old  Testament  prophets  speak  of  no  other 
captivity  than  that  of  Babylon.  This  we 
deny  ;  and  now  proceed  to  the  proof 

Somewhere  he  says,  "I  am  no  student  of 
the  prophets  :"  and  if  it  shall,  in  the  course 
of  this  discussion,  appear  that  he  has  been 
led,  by  attachment  to  a  theory,  to  put  an  er- 
roneous interpretation  on  predictions,  it  may 
naturally  be  .asked,  Why  he  did  not  study 
at  least,  the  prophets  to  whom  he  refers, 
with  suf&cient  care  to  understand  them,  and 
not  suffer  himself  to  assert  as  a  fact  what 
they  do  not  authorize,  that  they  hold  out  no 
encouragement  to  hope  for  the  future  con- 
version of  the  Jewish  people  ? 

At  the  head  of  the  list  of  those  who  have 
predicted  this  blessed  event,  so  dear  to 
Christian  hearts,  we  place  their  most  ancient 
prophet.  Moses,  enlightened  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  to  look  into  far  distant  ages,  not  only 


OBJECTIONS.  157 

predicted  their  destruction  as  a  nation  and 
dispersion  over  the  world,  but  also  their  re- 
turn to  their  own  land  and  reorganization 
there  as  a  nation. 

The  arguments  presented,  in  our  preced- 
ing discussion,  in  favor  of  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews,  as  a  people,  we  deem  conclusive; 
though  every  reader  will  of  course  judge 
for  himself.  We  only  take  the  liberty  of 
reminding  him,  that  they  have  been  drawn 
from  the  nature  and  the  great  design  of  the 
Abrahamic  covenant ; — from  its  perpetuity 
in  both  its  parts,  viewed  in  connection  with 
the  wonderful  preservation  of  the  Jews  as  a 
distinct  people  by  Divine  Providence;  an 
event  for  which  no  parallel  can  be  found  in 
the  history  of  nations  ; — from  the  inspired 
writings  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  a  passing 
reference  to  Old  Testament  prophets.  (See 
the  discussion.) 

Mr.  W.,  I  think  will  hardly  deny,  that 

Moses  has  given,   in  one  phace,  a  prophetic 

history  of  Israel  that  reaches  to  the  end  of 

time.     He  refers  to  that  remarkable  predic- 

6 


158  RESTORATION   OF  THE   JEAVS. 

tiou  concerning  Clirisi ;  (Dent,  xviii.  15-19  ;) 
and  contends,  that,  for  tlieir  disobedience  to 
Christ,  the  Jews  are  noiL\  and  will  be,  pun- 
ished, by  being  held  up  "as  beacons  of  warn- 
ing to  all  nations  among  whom  they  dwell." 
And  can  he  deny,  that  a  part  of  the  punish- 
ment inflicted  on  them,  by  divine  Provi- 
dence, for  their  great  sin  in  crucifying 
and  afterwards  rejecting  the  Saviour,  was 
the  capture  of  their  cities  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  its  temple,  the 
great  slaughter  of  the  Jews,  and  subse- 
quent dispersion  of  them  among  many  na- 
tions, by  the  Eomans  ?  This  is  an  established 
historical  truth,  and  not  to  be  denied  by  an}^ 
one.  Here  then  is  a  second  captivity  involv- 
ed in  the  very  brief  threatening ;  "I  will 
require  it  of  him."  (Deut.  xviii.  19.) 

I  know  how  Mr.  W.  evades  this.  He 
appeals  to  Peter's  interpretation  of  this 
threatening  of  God,  and  asserts  the  meaning 
of  it  to  be  what  Peter  says  :  "  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  that  every  soul,  which  will  not 
hear  that  prophet,   shall  be  destroyed  from 


UBJECTION.S.  159 

among  the  people."  (Acts  iii.  23.)  And  he 
asserts  the  final  exscision  of  the  Jews  took 
place  nearly  tldrty  years  before  it  actually 
occarred.  The  inaccuracy  of  his  reasoning 
on  this  point  has  been  shown  already,  and 
that  he  has  entirely  failed  to  support  himself 
by  the  authority  of  Paul  in  his  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  s(See  pp.  46-49.)  Nor  does 
Peter  sustain  his  conclusion.  Its  incorrect- 
ness is  apparent  from  what  Peter  adds  in  the 
three  verses  that  follow  the  verse  just  quo- 
ted ;  in  which  he  shows  the  Jews  were  not 
at  the  time  he  spoke,  "  destroyed  from  among 
the  people."  A  season  of  divine  forbear- 
ance was  granted,  during  which  not  "a  very 
few,"  but  a  great  number  of  those  finally 
exscinded  by  Mr.  W.,  were  brought  into  the 
Christian  Church. 

"We  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles : 

First,  of  3000  being  added  to  the  Church, 
in  one  day ; 

Then,  of  daily  additions ; 

Then,  of  5000  believing  men  : 

Then,  of  mu.ltitudes  of  both  believing 
men  and  women  : 


160  RESTORATION   OF    THE  JEWS. 

Then  we  read,  "  And  tlie  word  of  God 
increased  ;  and  tlie  number  of  the  disciples 
multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly  ;  and  a  great 
company  of  the  priests  were  obedient  to  the 
faith/' 

Again :  But  the  word  of  God  grew  and 
multiplied.  And,  finally,  when  Paul  went 
the  last  time  to  Jerusalem,  the  apostles  said 
to  him,  "  Thou  seest,  brother,  how  many 
thousands  (original  myriads)  of  the  Jews 
there  ai'e  which  believe ;  and  they  are  all 
zealous  of  the  law."  Acts  ii.  4:1,  47.  iv.  4. 
V.  14.  vi.  7.  xii.  24.  xxi.  20. 

That  Moses  actually  predicted  the  captiv- 
ity of  the  Jews  we  adduce  a  proof  from  the 
tiuenty-eighth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy. 

That  chapter,  it  will  be  seen,  contains  a 
long  list  of  tremendous  curses  against  the 
Israelites ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  read  as  if  it 
were  written  with  a  strict  regard  to  chrono- 
logical order.  Particular  portions  will  apply 
to  different  periods.  For  example,  what  is 
contained  in  vs.  49 — 57,  may  be  applied  to 
the  invasion  of  Judah  and  siege  of  Jerusa- 


TESTIMONY    OF    MOSES.  161 

lem  by  Nebuchadnezzer,  king  of  Babylon ; 
but  it  applies  more  empliatieally  to  the  inva- 
sion of  that  land  and  siege  of  that  city,  by 
the  Eomans.  They  are  clearly  described  in 
vs.  49,  50.  They  were  far  more  remote 
from  Judea  than  the  Babylonians  ;  "as  swift 
as  the  eagle  flieth."  They  used  an  eagle  as 
their  standard  which  their  soldiers  followed 
with  the  greatest  alacrity,  and  guarded  with 
the  utmost  care  and  bravery  ;  regarding  the 
loss  of  one  as  the  greatest  disgrace.  "  Whose 
tongue  thou  shalt  not  understand."  "  The 
latin  language,"  says  Dr.  Clarke,  "  than 
which  none  was  more  foreign  to  the  structure, 
and  idiom  of  the  Hebrews."  "  A  nation  of 
fierce  countenance,  which  shall  not  regard 
the  person  of  the  old,  nor  shew  favor  to  the 
young."  How  accurately  this  characterized 
the  Romans,  is  well  known  to  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  their  history  at  this  particu- 
lar period. 

The  miseries  inflicted  on  this  unhappy  and 
infatuated  people,  by  the  besieging  of  their 
walled  towns,  and  especially  Jerusalem, — by 


162  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

famine  and  pestilence  that  followed  the 
sword ;  are  fearfully  described,  in  vs.  52- 
57,  and  full}-  attested  by  their  own  historian, 
Josephus  ;  an  eye  witness  of  many  facts,  and 
thoroao-hly  informed  in  res-ard  to  the  occur- 
rences  of  that  war,  so  fatal  to  his  own  people. 

Here  large  quotations  might  be  made 
from  Bp.  Newton  ;  and  we  might  transcribe 
what  he  quotes  from  Basnage^  to  prove  how 
exactly  the  sixty-fourth  verse  has  been  ful- 
filled, in  the  conduct  of  the  Jews  in  Spain  ; 
but  we  forbear,  and  refer  the  reader  to  the 
Appendix.  - 

We  shall  however  transcribe  what  he  says, 
at  the  close  of  page  125.  "  Here  are  instan- 
ces of  prophecies  above  three  thousand  years 
ago,  and  yet  as  we  see,  fulfilling  in  the  world 
at  this  very  time  ;  and  what  stronger  proof 
can  we  desire  of  the  divine  legation  of 
Moses?  How  these  instances  may  aftect 
others,  I  know  not,  but  for  myself  I  must 
acknowledge,  they  not  only  convince,  but 
amaze  and  astonish  me  beyond  expression. 

*  Appendix  B. 


CHAPTEBX. 

Testimony  of  Moses  continued — Deut.  xxx.  1-11 — Ex- 
tract from  Mr.  W.'s  letters — Remarks  on  it — Plan  of  Sal- 
vation one  and  same  always — Difference  between  the 
former  and  present  dispensation — Mr.  W.  opposes  the 
plain  teaching  of  Moses. 

Let  tlie  reader  now  pause  for  a  moment, 
and  recollect  wliat  has  been  proved. 

Have  not  the  following  points  been  estab- 
lished ? 

1.  That  the  Jews  will,  as  a  people,  be 
converted  to  the  Christian  faith  ; 

2.  That  Moses  was  gifted  with  a  Spirit  of 
prophecy,  that  enabled  him  to  write  a  pro- 
phetic history  of  Israel  to  the  end  of  time ; 
and 

3.  That  he  actually  predicted,  not  only 
the  Babylonish  captivity,  but  also  that  more 
terrible  and  lasting  captivity,  by  the  Ro- 
mans ;  who  destroyed  them  as  a  nation,  and 
dispersed  them  over  the  face  of  the  world. 


164  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

Kow,  if  these  points  have  been  establisli- 
ed,  what  becomes  of  the  theory  which 
brother  WiUiamson  has  built  upon  the 
assumption,  that  the  Old  Testament  prophets 
have  not  predicted  any  captivity  besides  that 
of  Babylon  ?  And  what  becomes  of  objec- 
tions to  their  future  restoration  to  their  own 
land,  founded  on  the  same  unauthorized 
assumption  ? 

They  must  fall  like  a  building  deprived 
of  its  foundation. 

But  has  Moses  foretold  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  to  the  land  of  their  forefathers  ? 

That  he  has,  is  our  belief;  and  we  ground 
our  belief  on  the  thirtieth  chapter  of  Deuter- 
onomy. 

Were  I  disposed  to  examine  the  interpre- 
tation put  on  Levit.  26,  by  Mr.  W.,  it  would 
be  no  difficult  thing  to  show  how  incorrect 
he  is;  but  I  forbear;  I  only  request  the 
reader  to  examine  the  14th  and  15th  verses 
of  that  chapter  mentioned  by  him,  and  he 
will  find,  that  they  do  not  contain  one  word 
about  captivity.  (See  p.  150.) 


TESTOEONY    OF   MOSES.  165 

Moses,  in  tlie  chapter  named  above  writes : 

1.  And  it  sliall  come  to  pass  when  all  these 
things  are  come  upon  thee,  the  blessing  and 
the  curse,  which  I  have  set  before  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  call  them  to  mind  among  all  the 
nations,  whither  the  Lord  thy  Grod  hath 
driven  thee ; 

2.  And  shalt  return  unto  the  Lord  thy 
God,  shalt  obey  his  voice  according  to 
all  that  I  have  commanded  thee  this  day, 
thou  and  thy  children,  with  all  thine  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul : 

3.  That  then  the  Lord  thy  God  will  turn 
thy  captivity,  and  have  compassion  upon 
thee,  and  will  return,  and  gather  thee  from  all 
the  nations  whither  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
scattered  thee. 

4.  K  amj  of  thine  be  driven  out  unto  the 
utmost  parts  of  heaven,  from  thence  will 
the  Lord  thy  God  gather  thee,  and  from 
thence  will  he  fetch  thee. 

5.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  bring  thee 
into  the  land  which  thy  flithers  possessed, 
and  thou  shalt  possess  it ;  and  he  will  do 


16(3  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

thee   good,  and    multiply   thee   above   thy 
fathers. 

6.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  wiU  circum- 
cise thine  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed, 
to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest 
live. 

7.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  put  all 
these  curses  upon  thine  enemies,  and  on 
them  that  hate  thee,  which  persecuted  thee. 

8.  And  thou  shalt  return,  and  obey  the 
voice  of  the  Lord,  and  do  all  his  command- 
ments, which  I  command  thee  this  day. 

9.  And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  make  thee 
plenteous  in  every  work  of  thine  hand,  in  the 
fruit  of  th}^  body,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy 
cattle,  and  in  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  for  good : 
for  the  Lord  will  again  rejoice  over  thee  for 
good,  as  he  rejoiced  over  thy  fathers  ; 

10.  If  thou  shalt  hearken  unto  the  voice 
of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  keep  his  command- 
ments and  his  statutes,  which  are  written  in 
this  book  of  the  law,  and  if  thou  turn  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and 
with  all  thv  soul. 


TESTIMONY  OF  MOSP:S.  167 

The  remark  made  in  regard  to  Deut." 
xxviii.  49 — 50,  may  be  made  in  regard  to 
the  above  quotation.  It  may  be  applied  to 
the  Babylonish  captivity;  but  it  applies 
emphatically  to  the  Eoman  captivity.  Let 
the  reader  carefully  attend  to  the  extent  of 
the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  over  the  world 
expressed  with  so  much  force  of  terms,  in 
the  fourth  verse  ;  the  great  favor  and  multi- 
plication of  their  race  promised  in  the  fifth 
verse ;  and  he  will  see  how  much  more 
applicable  they  are  to  the  last  than  the  first 
captivity.  Besides,  it  is  to  be  considered 
that  the  promise  contained  in  the  sixtJi  verse, 
was  not  fulfilled  Avhen  the  Jews  returned 
from  Babylon  to  their  own  country.  Their 
heart,  as  a  nation,  was  not  circumcised,  and 
never  has  been  to  this  day. 

The  book  of  Ezra,  particularly  the  9th 
and  10th  chapters,  and  the  book  of  INehe- 
miah,  will  show  what  the  Jews  were  on  their 
return  to  their  own  land,  as  a  people.  They 
were  far  from  having  their  hearts  circumcised. 
Many  were  doubtless  pious,  but  not  the  body 
of  the  jjooplc. 


168  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Let  us  now  hear  Mr.  "W.,  on  this  subject. 
On  page  152  he  ^mtes  :  "  Now,  since  both 
the  threatening  and  the  promise  depended 
on  disobedience  and  obedience  to  the  same 
ceremonial  law,  must  it  not  refer  to  a  period 
prior  to  the  death  of  Christ,  while  that  law 
was  in  force,  after  which  Christ  solemnly 
commanded  all  Jews  to  believe  on  him,  and 
be  baptized — not  circumcised — on  pain  of 
death."  (Paul  circumcised  Timothy,  long 
after  the  death  of  Christ.  Did  Paul  and 
Timothy  deserve  to  die  for  this?)  "  And  if 
that  return  is  future  must  not  the  condition 
be  obedience  to  the  ceremonial  law,"  (what 
after  the  abolition  of  the  ceremonial  law  for 
more  than  1800  years?)  "  or  in  other  words 
rebellion  against  Christ  ?"  (What !  would 
a  Jew  by  obeying  Christ  rebel  against  him  7) 
"  But  surely  you  will  not  say  that  rebellion 
against  Christ  is  the  condition."  (Surely 
not ;  and  why  does  brother  W.  say  it  is  ?) 
"  Must  not  then  that  return  have  been  ful- 
filled?" (For  a  moment  let  us  admit  the 
assertion  to  be  true,  that  the  Old  Testament 


TESTIMONY  OP  MOSES.  169 

propliets  have  predicted  no  captivity  but 
tliat  of  Babylon ;  and  let  us  suppose,  they 
will  hereafter  be  converted  to  the  Christian 
faith,  and  return  to  their  own  land.  What 
will  follow  ?  As  christians  they  will  cease 
to  circumcise  their  children ;  and  knowing 
that  the  ceremonial  law  has  been  abolished, 
by  the  same  supreme  authority  by  which  it 
was  enacted,  they  will  feel  released  from  any 
obligatioi*  to  observe  it ;  and  will  of  course 
obey  the  laws  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
In  these  circumstances  what  ground  can  Mr. 
W.  find  for  his  strange  question,  "Must  not 
the  condition  be  obedience  to  the  ceremonial 
law  ?"  Kone  whatever ;  accordingly  he 
himself  abandons  it  in  his  next  question, 
which  is  :  "  Would  it  now  be  sin  in  a  con- 
verted Jew  to  offer  sacrifices  as  much  as  for 
any  other  person,  and  is  it  not  so  for  the  un- 
converted ?"  We  answer  Yes ;  and  so  it 
would  be  in  the  whole  body  of  the  Jews,  if 
they  were  converted. 

This  shows  the  utter  inconsistency  of  the 
question  proposed  by  him  above. 


170  KESTOEATION    OP^    THE  JEWS. 

We  cannot  forbear  saying  that  this  para- 
graph is  most  singular. 

The  general  cause  of  the  strange  reasoning 
seen  in  this  and  other  portions  of  his  letters, 
is  the  adoption  of  an  erroneous  theory^  that 
the  Jews,  as  people,  will  never  be  converted, 
but  remain  "as  beacons  of  warning  to  all 
nations." 

The  particular  causes  are, 

I.  The  assumption  that  the  Old  Testament 
prophets  have  predicted  no  captivity  but 
that  of  Babylon.  Of  this  he  offers  no  proof, 
but  his  assertion  that  he  has  found  no  proph- 
et that  speaks  of  another  captivity.  We 
think  that  Moses  has  spoken  very  distinctly 
of  the  Eoman  captivity. 

II.  The  second  cause  is  his  insisting  very 
erroneously  on  a  literal  interpretation  of  the 
words,  "  This  day^"^  occurring  frequently  in 
Deuteronomy.  To  show  his  error  we  tran- 
scribe the  follo^dng  interpretation  of  Deut. 
ix.  1.  by  Dr.  A.  Clarke. 

"  Thou  art  to  2'>ciss  over  Jordon  this  day^ 
[hayom^']  this  time :  tlicy  had  come  thirty-eight 


TESTIMONY  OF  MOSES.  171 

years  before  tins,  ncarl}'  to  tlie  verge  of  the 
promised  land,  but  were  not  permitted  at^ 
tlicii  day  or  time^  to  pass  over,  because  of  their 
rebellions  :  but  this  time^  they  shall  certainly 
pass  over.  This  was  spoken  about  the  elev- 
enth month  of  the  fortieth  year  of  their  jour- 
neying ;  and  it  was  on  the  first  month  of  the 
following  year  they  passed  over  :  and  during 
this  interim  Moses  died." 

Let  it  be  added  that  Mr.  W.  might  have 
discovered  his  error,  if  he  had  looked  care- 
fully at  the  10th  verse  of  the  30th  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  to  which  he  refers  on  p. 
151  ;  for  there  it  is  written,  "If  thou  shall 
hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
to  keep  his  commandments  and  his  statutes 
which  are  written  in  this  hook  of  the  law,  and  if 
thou  turn  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all 
thine  heart,  and  all  thy  soul." 

Here  then  is  a  condition  far  more  compre- 
hensive than  the  few  ceremonial  laws  that 
might  be  uttered  by  Moses  in  a  single  day. 
It  embraces  all  the  commandments  recorded 
in  the  whole  "book  of  the  law,"  and  obe- 


172  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

dience  to  that  great  propliet  of  Avliom  lie 
■writes,  iu  chap,  xviii.  15-19. 

The  ceremonial  law  was  to  be  observed 
while  it  was  in.  force,  but  not  after  the  aboli- 
tion of  it  by  the  great  Prophet.  Here  we 
see,  Moses  looked  beyond  the  captivity  of 
Babylon  to  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  and  pre- 
scribes the  condition  on  which  the  Jews  may 
return  to  the  land  of  their  "fathers and  pos- 
sess it,"  although  "  driven  out  unto  the  ut- 
most parts  of  heaven." 

HI.  A  third  cause,  is  his  mistaken  views  of 
the  ceremonial  law. 

Already  (pp.  30 — 72)  his  defective  views 
of  the  nature  of  the  Old  covenant,  its  re- 
quirements, and  the  time  when  it  was  abol- 
ished, have  been  shown.  These  erroneous 
views,  together  with  his  failing  to  distinguish 
between  exposure  to  a  penalty  and  the  actual 
infliction  of  it,  have  sadly  influenced  his 
reasoning.  Some  additional  light  may  be' 
shed  on  that  covenant,  to  enable  the  reader 
to  understand  aright  the  place  occupied  in 
that  covenant  by  the  ceremonial  law,  and 


TESTIMONY  OP  MOSES.  173 

the  design  it  was  intended  to  subserve ;  of 
wliich  Mr.  W.'s  ideas  do  not  appear  to  be 
correct. 

Let  it,  then,  be  remarked,  and  never  for- 
gotten, that  since  the  apostacy  of  man,  the 
plan  of  salvation  devised,  executed,  and  re- 
vealed by  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy,  has 
been,  in  all  past  ages,  and  will  be  in  all  coming 
ages,  one  and  the  same.  It  is  a  free,  gratui- 
tous salvation,  through  the  righteousness  of 
Christ. 

The  first  intimation  of  it  was  given  in  the 
promise  concerning  the  seed  of  the  woman. 
(Gen.  iii.  15.)  That  promise  was  the  germ 
of  the  great  mystery,  to  illustrate  and  de- 
velop which,  both  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testaments  were  written,  by  men  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Spirit;  sacrifices  were  instituted, 
types  employed,  and  ceremonies  appointed. 
Abel,  and  Enoch,  and  Noah,  and  the  Patri- 
archs, Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  were 
saved  by  the  same  grace  and  the  same  right- 
eousness, by  which  believing  christians  are 
now   saved.     The   only  difference  is,    that 


174  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

those  who  lived  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
looked  through  the  dim  light  of  promises, 
predictions,  types,  and  sacrifices,  to  a  Saviour 
who  ivas  to  come  ;  but  we  look,  through  the 
clear  light  of  promises  revealed,  predictions 
accomplished,  types  realized,  and  the  grand 
sacrifice  offered  by  the  Son  of  God,  and  typ- 
ified by  innumerable  sacrifices  of  former 
ages,  to  a  Saviour  who  has  come ;  and,  hav- 
ing finished  his  work  on  earth,  has  ascended 
to  heaven  as  our  gTeat  High  Priest  and  Ad- 
vocate, and  as  our  glorious  King  to  reign 
there  "  Head  over  all  things  to  the  church." 
(Ei3hes.  i.  22.) 

Sacrifices  were  not  originally  instituted  by 
Moses.  They  had  been  divinely  instituted 
long  before  that  great  lawgiver  was  born  ;  so 
that  Abel,  Adam's  second  son,  "by  faith 
offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacrifice 
than  Cain ;  by  which  he  obtained  witness 
that  he  was  righteous,  God  testifying  of  his 
gifts  :  and  by  it  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh." 
(Heb.  xi.  4.)  Moses  only  multiplied  sacrifi- 
ces ;  and  by  divine   direction   instituted  a 


TESTIMONY  OF  MOSES.  175 

variety  of  types ;  sucli  as  the  brazen  serpent, 
the  tabernacle  in  its  various  departments, 
the  Aaronic  priesthood,  the  transactions  of  the 
great  day  of  atonement,  and  a  variety  of 
ceremonial  laws  in  regard  to  contracting  un- 
cleanness  and  its  removal. 

Having,  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  his  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  explained  the  typical  nature 
of  the  ordinances  of  divine  service,  and  a 
worldly  sanctuary,  of  the  "  first  or  Old  cov- 
enant," the  apostle  Paul  tells  us,  that  the 
sacrifices  could  only  sanctify  "  to  the  purify- 
ing of  the  flesh,  (v.  13.)Then,  in  the  fe?^^/i  chap- 
ter, he  says,  "  For  the  law  having  a  shadow 
of  good  things  to  come,  and  not  the  very 
image  of  the  things,  can  never  by  those 
sacrifices  which  they  offered  year  by  year 
continually,  make  the  comers  thereunto  per- 
fect. "  For  it  is  not  possible  that  the  blood 
of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins." 
(vs.  1-4.) 

The  design  of  the  ceremonial  law  was,  not 
to  introduce  a  new  method  of  salvation,  but 
to  subserve  the  advancement  of  the  method 


176  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

originally  revealed.  It  taught  the  evil  of 
sin,  its  odious  nature  in  the  sight  of  God, 
the  necessity  of  a  more  efiicient  atonement 
than  the  slajdng  of  dumb  animals  ;  it  taught 
the  Jews  to  look  for  salvation  to  that  great 
sacrifice  to  be  offered  by  the  Messiah, 
to  which  all  their  sacrifices  pointed.  In 
fact,  it  preached  to  them  the  gospel ;  as  the 
apostle  Paul  testifies,  where  he  says  :  "  For 
unto  us  was  the  gospel  preached,  as  luell  as 
unto  them :  but  the  word  preached  did  not 
profit  them,  not  being  mixed  with  faith  in 
them  that  heard  it."    (Heb.  iv.  2.) 

True,  the  great  body  of  the  Jews  pervert- 
ed the  design  of  the  ceremonial  law,  by  turn- 
ing it  into  a  covenant  of  works,  by  relying 
on  their  own  observance  of  it,  in  one  form 
or  other,  for  acceptance  with  God.  Hear 
what  the  sacred  writer  says,  (Rom.  x.  1-4.) 
"  Brethren,  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to 
God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might  be  saved. 
For  I  bear  them  record  that  they  have  a 
zeal  for  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge. 
For  they  being  ignorant  of  God's  righteous- 


TESTIMONY  OF  MOSES.  177 

ness,  and  going  about  to  establish  their  own 
rio-liteousness,  have  not  submitted  themselves 
unto  the  righteousness  of  God.  For  Christ  is 
the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  belie veth." 

Individuals,  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
while  they  committed  no  outward  act  that 
subjected  them  to  exscision,  were  Israelites 
as  Mr.  W.  says ;  but  certainly  they  were  not 
Israelites,  in  the  sense  Paul  uses  that  term  ; 
nor  were  they  heirs  of  the  great  promise  in 
Abraham's  covenant.  It  was  exhibited  to 
them  in  the  scriptures  ;  but  as  they  failed  to 
embrace  it  by  faith,  they  lost  its  invaluable 
blessings.  And  does  not  the  same  unhappy 
occurrence  take  place  in  the  Christian 
Church?  A  man  makes  a  profession  of 
religion.  He  is  examined  by  the  officers  of 
the  church  and  received.  But  he  is  unre- 
newed, and  destitute  of  saving  faith.  He 
relies  on  his  own  works,  and  not  on  Christ. 
Of  course  he  has  no  saving  interest  in  his 
glorious  righteousness.  While  the  real  state 
of  his  heart  is  unrevealed  by  outward  acts, 


178  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

his  standing  in  the  church  is  good,  whether 
he  be  a  self 'deceiver^  or  a  real  hypocrite. 

One  remark  more,  and  we  leave  the  testi- 
mony of  Moses.  Mr.  W.  calls  the  exscision 
of  the  Jews  final.  This  has  been  previously 
noticed.  Here  we  request  the  reader  to  re- 
member, that  it  is  an  unauthorized  assertion ; 
for  which  he  has  furnished  no  scriptural 
proof  that  can  bear  examination.  It  contra- 
dicts the  prophetic  testimony  of  Moses  ;  and 
it  will  be  found  to  be  in  opposition  to  the 
testimony  of  other  prophets. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Testimony  of  Hosea — Testimony  of  Isaiah. 

We  bring  forward  this  prophet  after 
Moses,  because  we  think  it  is  as  well  to  adopt 
the  chronological  order,  as  any  other. 

On  page  103  of  letters  to  a  Millenarian, 
we  find  this  paragraph  : 

"  Will  it  not  be  admitted,  that  when  the 
prophets  foretold  the  captivity  of  the  ten 
tribes,  they  did  not  connect  with  it  any 
promise  of  their  return  from  that  captivity, 
as  was  the  common  practice  when  they  pre- 
dicted the  captivity  of  the  Jews  by  the 
Chaldeans  ?  If  they  did,  the  plac«  where 
they  did  it,  should  be  distinctly  marked,  as 
Ave  have  not  found  it." 

While  we  withhold  the  concession  he 
wishes,  we  shall  comply  with  his  request, 
and  distinctly  mark  the  places  in  the  proph- 
et, that  will  disprove  his  assumption. 

Hosea  prophesied  a  long  time.     He  began 


180  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

to  exercise  his  office  in  the  year  B.  C.  786, 
and  continued  to  utter  his  predictions  to 
Israel  and  Judah,  till  the  year  B.  C.  723  ;  so 
that  his  labors  were  extended  over  a  period 
of  63  years,  and  ceased  only  two  years  before 
the  capture  of  Samaria^  and  captivity  of  the 
nations  by  the  Assyrians. 

I.  The  first  place  we  mark,  is  Chap,  ii, 
14r-23.  That  passage  contains  a  precious 
promise  of  restoration  to  the  favor  of  God, 
and  of  the  signal  blessings  and  prosperity 
He  would  bestow  on  Israel,  when  brought 
again  into  covenant  relation  to  Himself — 
That  promise  has  never  been  fulfilled  to 
Israel,  as  a  people  or  nation,  since  their  cap- 
tivity and  removal  from  their  own  land. 

II.  The  second  place,  we,  not  only  mark, 
but  transcribe  the  passage.  (Chapt.  iii.  4-5.) 

"  For  the  children  of  Israel  shall  abide 
many  days,  Avithout  a  king,  and  without  a 
prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,  and  without 
an  image,  and  without  an  ephod,  and  with- 
out a  teraphim.  Afterward  the  children  of 
Israel,    shall   return,    and    seek   the   Lord 


TESTIMONY    OF  HOSE  A.  181 

their  Grocl,  and  David  their  king  :  and  shall 
fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness,  in  the  latter 
days."  Is  not  this  plain?  It  has  never 
been  fulfilled. 

III.  The  third  place  is  chap.  xi.  8-11. 

"This,"  says /Sco^  "evidently  looks  for- 
ward to  the  future  conversion  and  restoration 
of  Israel ;  as  well  as  to  the  times  subsequent 
to  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and  the  days 
of  Christ,  and  his  apostles." 

IV.  In  the  fourth  place,  we  offer  ihe  four- 
teenth chapter ;  which,  as  it  is  too  long  for 
transcription,  the  reader  is  requested  to  open 
his  Bible,  and  attentively  consider. 

Scott  says,  "  This  chapter  is  very  different 
from  the  general  tenor  of  the  preceding 
prophecy;  and  perhaps  it  was  delivered 
after  the  reduction  of  Samaria,  and  the  ruin 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel." 

Ought  not  such  plain  testimonies  to  satisfy 
even  brother  W.  himself? 

It  is  really  singular  that  Mr.  Williamson 
could  not  find  something  in  this  Evangelical 
prophet  to  convince  him,  how  utterly  erro- 
6^ 


182  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

neous  is  liis  tlieon',  that  the  Jews  are  to  serve 
no  other  purpose  than  to  be  "beacons  of 
warning,"  to  other  nations,  and  are  never  to 
be  brought  into  the  Christian  Church  as  a 
people. 

The  second  chapter  of  this  prophet  inspires 
us  with  hope  in  regard  to  this  infatuated 
people. 

How  cheering  his  language !  "  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days^  that  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  estab- 
lished on  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall 
be  exalted  above  the  hills :  and  all  nations 
shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many  people  shall 
go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of 
the  God  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his 
ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths  ;  for  out 
of  Zion  shall  go  forth  his  law,  and  the  word 
of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem."  (vs.  2-3.) 
These  are  figurative  expressions  of  the  pros- 
perity and  enlargement  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  future  time. 


TESTIMONY  OF  ISAIAH.  183 

The  prophet  goes  on  to  say,  "  And  he 
shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall 
rebuke  many  people :  and  they  shall  beat 
their  swords  into  plow  shares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning  hooks :  nation  shall  not 
lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall 
they  learn  war  any  more.  0  house  of  Jacob, 
come  ye,  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord."  (vs.  4-5.) 

On  verse  1st.,  Scott  says,  "  The  last  days, 
or  the  latter  days,  signify  the  times  of  the 
Messiah  by  the  common  consent  of  the  ex- 
positors, not  excepting  even  the  Jews." 

And  on  vs.  3-5  he  writes,  "  There  needs 
no  other  proof,  that  the  grand  accomplish- 
ment of  this  prophecy  is  reserved  for  some 
future  period,  than  the  consideration,  that 
nothing  in  any  measure  answerable  to  such 
forcible  expressions  has  yet  occurred  on 
earth. — The  prophet  closes  his  predictions 
by  exhorting  his  people  to  avail  themselves 
of  their  advantages,  and  not  to  reject  the 
gospel  when  preached  to  them :  for  these 
prophecies  were  intended  to  instruct  future 


184  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

ages." — Then  follows  a  quotation  from  that 
great  critic  Lowt\  which  is  :  "  This  prophe- 
cy will  not  receive  its  utmost  completion,  till 
the  destruction  of  the  four  monarchies,  (Dan. 
ii.  2>6^)  and  the  fulness  of  the  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles are  come  into  the  church.  (Mic.  4.) — 
Yet  both  these  prophecies  may  be  partly 
fulfilled,  in  the  several  advances  which 
Christ's  kingdom  makes  in  the  world,  who 
is  described  as  "  going  forth  conquering  and 
to  conquer."  (Eev.  vi.  2.) — This  seems  to 
have  been  a  maxim  in  interpreting  prophe- 
cies received  among  the  Jews  before  Christ's 
time ;  that  wherever  they  saw  an  imperfect 
completion  of  prophecy  in  an  historical 
event,  which  no  way  answered  the  lofty  ex- 
pressions and  extensive  promises,  which  the 
natural  sense  of  the  text  imported ;  there 
they  supposed  the  times  of  the  Messiah  to 
be  ultimately  intended ;  ''in  whom  all  the 
promises  of  God  are  yea,  and  amen."  To 
prevent  any  misunderstanding,  it  may  be 
likewise  proper  to  take  notice,  that  this 
mystical  sense  of  prophecies  is  now  and  then, 


TESTIMONY  OF  ISAIAH.  185 

but  not  so  fitly,  called  a  secondary  sense  ;  not 
as  if  it  were  less  principally  intended  by  the 
prophets ;  but  rather  with  respect  to  the 
time,  because  it  is  the  last  and  ultimate  com- 
pletion of  their  predictions. — "  The  times  of 
the  Messiah  are  the  times  from  his  coming, 
to  the  end  of  the  world." 

The  eleventh  chapter  of  Isaiah  presents  a 
delightful  proof  of  the  blessings  in  reserve 
for  God's  ancient  people. 

There  we  find  a  glorious  description  of 
the  kingdom  of  our  blessed  Ee(^eemer  in 
coming  time,  and  of  the  signal  blessings 
that  will  be  bestowed  on  the  world,  when 
He  shall,  in  accordance  with  his  Father's 
promise,  (Ps.  ii.  8,)  claim  "  the  heathen  for 
his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  for  his  possession." 

In  another  place  (pp.  94,  95,)  this  chapter 
has  been  referred  to  in  showing  that  the 
promises  of  the  New  Covenant  have  re- 
ceived but  an  incipient  fulfilment,  and  that 
their  glorious  fulfilment  is  reserved  for  a 
future  age.     Let  the  reader  peruse  that  chap- 


186         RESTORATION    OF    THE    JEWS. 

ter,  from  the  first  to  the  tenth  verse  inclusive, 
and  dwell  on  tlie  "wonderful  state  of  peace 
and  purity,  and  happiness,  to  which  this 
earth,  so  long  cursed  by  sin,  and  wickedness, 
and  misery,  will  be  brought,  by  sovereign 
grace,  under  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ. 

When  he  has  sufficiently  considered  this 
part  of  the  chapter,  let  him  read  and  study 
the  remainder  ;  which  is  here  transcribed. 

11.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  the  Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again  the 
second  time  to  recoA^er  the  remnant  of  his 
people,  which  shall  be  left,  from  Assyria, 
and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros,  and  from 
Gush,  and  from  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and 
from  Hamath,  and  from  the  islands  of  the 
sea. 

12.  And  he  shall  set  up  an  ensign  for  the 
nations,  and  shall  assemble  the  outcasts  of 
Israel,  and  gather  together  the  dispersed  of 
Judah  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 

13.  The  envy  also  of  Ephraim  shall  de- 
part, and  the  adversaries  of  Judah  shall  be 
cut  off:  Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Juhah,  and 
Jiidali  shall  not  vex  Ephraim. 


TESTIMONY  OF  ISAIAH.  187 

14.  But  they  shall  fly  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  Philistines  toward  the  west :  they 
shall  spoil  them  of  the  east  together :  they 
shall  lay  their  hand  upon  Edom  and  Moab, 
and  the  children  of  Amnion  shall  obey 
them. 

15.  And  the  Lord  shall  utterly  destroy 
the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea :  and  with 
his  mighty  wind  shall  he  shake  his  hand 
over  the  the  river,  and  shall  smite  it  in  the 
seven  streams,  and  make  men  go  over  dry- 
shod. 

16.  And  there  shall  be  a  highway  for  the 
remnant  of  his  people,  which  shall  be  left, 
from  Assyria ;  like  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the 
day  that  he  came  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt. 

Can  it  be  doubted,  that  this  part  of  the 
chapter  relates  to  God's  ancient  people,  de- 
nominated Israel  and  Judah  ?  (See  vs.  11 
and  12.) 

Mark  with  what  particularity^  the  places 
from  which  that  people  are  to  be  gathered, 
are  named,  and  the  extent  of  country  from 


188  RESTOEATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

which  they  will  be  assembled.     (See  vs.  11 
and  12.) 

Observe,  that  this  event  will  take  place  at 
the  time^  when  the  world  is  undergoing  a 
blessed  glorious  revolution.  "  It  shall  come 
to  pass  in  that  day."    (Compare  vs.  10  and 

11-) 

Take  notice  of  the  happy  change  that  will 
then  be  wrought  in  the  feelings  of  Ephraim 
and  Judah,  towards  each  other.  All  envy, 
and  contention,  and  strife  will  cease.  They 
will  live  in  brotherly  love,  (verse  18th.) 

What  prosperity  will  God  bestow  on  his 
people,  and  what  wonders  will  he  work  for 
them !    (vs.  11-16.) 

Does  not  this  chapter  foretell  the  future 
restoration  of  the  Jews  to  the  land  of  their 
fathers,  given  to  them  in  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  "  for  an  everlastimj possessionV 

To  me  it  appears  so  plain  that  I  cannot 
withhold  my  belief 

Various  other  predictions  of  this  prophet 
might  be  adduced  in  proof  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  to  Palestine ;  but  wc  forbear. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

Testimony  of  Jeremiah — Remarks  on  Chapters  xxx  and 
xxxi — Quotations  from  Drs.  Clarke,  Scott,  and  Lowth. 

Here  we  make  our  appeal  to  a  prophet, 
on  wliom  Mr.  Williamson  places  most  reli- 
ance. 

If  the  reader  will  turn  to  pp.  98-101,  he 
may  see  what  has  been  written  already  on 
the  30th  and  31st  chapters  of  this  prophet, 
to  show  that  he  has  foretold  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews,  as  a  people,  to  the  Christian 
faith. 

We  are  now  to  re-examine  what  Jeremiah 
has  written,  to  prove  the  future  restoration  of 
the  Jews  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob ;  which  Grod  was 
pleased,  by  his  covenant,  to  give  to  their 
natural  seed,  "  for  an  everlasting  possession^ 
This  shall  be  attempted  under  the  following 
remarks. 

I.  It  is  a  settled  prindple,  that  the  2^rophets 


190  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

did  not  always  understand  the  true  meaning  of 
their  own  predictions. 

They  were  amanuences  in  tlie  hands  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  dictated  their  words. 
See  Dan.  xii.  8,  9,  13.  See  also  1  Peter  i. 
10-12. 

n.  These  chapters  let  it  be  remembered, 
relate,  not  only  to  Judah,  but  to  Israel, 
They  were  written  more  than  one  hundred 
years  after  the  captivity  of  Israel.  See 
chap.  XXX.  3,  4,  7,  10,  18.  chap.  xxxi.  1,  4, 
5,  9,  10,  18,  23,  27,  31. 

III.  They  contained  predictions  that,  al- 
though partially  fulfilled,  yet  remain  to  be 
fulfilled. 

1 .  Dr.  Clarke  writes,  chap.  30th,  verse  3, 
"  The  days  come.']  First,  After  the  conclusion 
of  the  seventy  years.  Secondly,  Under  the 
Messiah. 

"  That  I  loill  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
Israel.]  The  ten  tribes,  led  captive  by  the 
king  of  Assyria,  and  dispersed  among  the 
nations. 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEREMIAH.  191 

^^And  Judah.']  The  people  carried  into 
JBahylon  at  tiuo  different  times ;  first,  under 
Jeclioniah^  and  secondly  under  Zedekiah,  by 
Nebuchadnezzar. '''' 

Loioth^  quoted  by  Scott,  says,  Israel  and 
Judah.  "  Several  prophecies  foretell  the  res- 
toration both  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  their 
reunion  after  their  restoration." 

2.  We  add  on  verses  5-7,  "  Thus  saUh  the 
Lord,  &c."  May  not  this  prediction  relate 
emphatically,  though  not  exclusively,  to  the 
imminent  danger,  to  which  the  Jewish  people 
were  exposed  by  the  exterminating  decree 
of  the  king  of  Persia,  j)rocured  by  the 
malice,  and  influence  of  that  wicked  and 
haughty  favorite  Haman  ?  See  the  record 
of  it  in  Esther  iii.  8-15. 

Perhaps  the  Jewish  people  were  never,  at 
any  time,  so  exposed  to  extermination. 
And  may  we  not  believe  that  Mordecai  was 
supported  by  his  faith  in  this  prediction, 
in  his  whole  conduct,  and  especially  when 
he  said  in  his  message  to  the  Queen  ?  "  Then 
Mordecai   commanded     to    answer    Esther^ 


192  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Think  not  witli  thyself  that  thou  shalt  escape 
in  the  king's  house,  more  than  all  the  Jews. 
For,  if  thou  altogether  holdest  thy  peace  at 
this  time,  then  shall  there  enlargement  and 
deliverance  arise  to  the  Jews  from  another 
place ;  but  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall 
be  destroyed:  and  who  knoweth  whether 
thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a 
time  as  this  ?"  (Chap.  iv.  13,14.) 

The  prediction  is  applied,  by  Scott^  to  the 
distress  of  the  Jews  during  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem, by  Nebuchadnezzer ;  but  improperly, 
if  Clarke's  opinion  is  correct,  as  it  probably 
is,  that  this  and  the  next  chapter  were  writ- 
ten by  Jeremiah^  after  the  capture  of  Jerusa- 
lem. (See  Clarke  chap.  xxx.  1.) 

By  Clarke  it  is  applied  to  the  distress  of 
the  Jews  during  the  siege  of  Babylon,  by 
the  Medes  and  Persians. 

And  may  not  the  promise  concerning 
JacoVs  deliverance,  (chap.  xxx.  7,)  be  used, 
both  by  Christians  and  the  Jews  when  con- 
verted, for  their  support  and  consolation,  in 
those  times  of  danger  that  are  yet  to  come 
on  the  Church  ? 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEREMIAH.  193 

Does  not  David  predict  sucli  a  time,  in  tlie 
second  psalm  ?  (See  vs.  4-12.)  And  will 
not  sucli  a  time  precede  the  introduction  of 
the  Millenium^  foretold  in  the  46th  Psalm 
and  bv  Isaiah  in  his  second  chapter  ;  where 
he  speaks  of  the  displays  of  the  glorious 
majesty  of  Jehovah,  and  of  its  terrifying 
effects  on  idolaters?  "When  he  shall  arise 
to  shake  terribly  the  earth."  (See  vs.  10-21.) 
Has  not  Zechariah  predicted  such  a  time? 
See  chap.  xiv.  1-11. 

In  all  such  alarming  times  of  "Jacob's 
trouble,"  may  not  believers,  whether  Gen- 
tiles or  Jews,  rejoice  to  know  that  it  is  writ- 
ten, "  He  shall  be  saved  ont  of  it." — -And 
strangers  shall  no  more  serve  themselves  of 
him :  but  they  shall  serve  the  Lord  their 
G-od,  and  David  their  king,  whom  I  will 
raise  up  unto  them."  (vs.  7-9.) 

3.  If  the  reader  will  consult  Scott  on  chap. 
XXX.  19-22,  he  will  see,  that  that  judicious 
commentator,  thinks  the  prediction  was  only 
partially  fulfilled  after  the  return  of  the 
Jews  to  their  own  land;  and  thit  the  21st 


1^4  KESTOKATIOX  OF  THE  JEWS. 

verse  was  fulfilled  by  the  mediatorial  work 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  quotation 
from  Lowth  on  the  term  "  Nohles^^  in  that 
verse,  is  worthy  of  deep  consideration. 

ly.  What  is  said,  in  vs.  23-24,  about  "  the 
whirlwind  of  the  Lord" — "  a  continuing 
whirlwind  &c.,"  has  been  fulfilling,  at  differ- 
ent times,  and  in  different  events.  It  has 
fallen  "with  pain  upon  the  head  of  the 
wicked,"  both  Gentiles  and  Jews  ;  and  it 
will  continue  to  fall  on  them,  until  the  Jews 
shall,  "  in  the  latter  days"  be  brought  to 
"  consider  it,^^  as  springing  from  the  anger  of 
Grod  against  them,  for  rejecting  and  crucify- 
ing His  beloved  Son,  spoken  of  in  the  21st 
verse,  as  their  Mediator,  and  in  the  9th 
verse,  as  David  their  king. 

Chapter  xxxi.  1,  Scott  says,  "  This  is  a 
continuation  of  the  prophecy  that  was  be- 
gun in  the  preceding  chapter,  which  evident- 
ly relates  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The 
same  time,  therefore  here  mentioned  must 
refer  to  those  events,  and  to  the  latter  days 
of  the  Church. — Not  onlv  would  the  Jews 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEKEMIAIJ.  195 

be  reinstated  in  their  privileges  as  the  peo- 
ple of  God  ;  but  the  same  blessing  is  prom- 
ised to  all  the  families  of  Israel." 

Dr.  Clarice  writes,  "This  discourse  was 
delivered  at  the  same  time  with  the  former ; 
and  with  that,  constitutes  the  Bool\  which 
God  ordered  the  prophet  to  write." 

Y.  These  two  chapters  of  Jeremiah  contain 
'predictions  that  have  never  heen^  and  are  yet  to 
he,  fulfilled. 

1.  What  is  written  in  vs.  8,  9,  has  never 
been  fulfilled :  "  And  strangers  shall  no 
more  serve  themselves  of  him.  But  they 
shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David 
their  king,  whom  I  will  raise  up  unto 
them." 

Dr.  Clarke  writes  thus:  "  David  was  long- 
since  dead ;  and  none  of  his  descendants 
reigned  over  them  after  the  Babjdonish 
captivity ;  nor  have  they  since  been  a  regal 
nation.  Zeruhhahel^  under  the  Persians,  and 
the  Asmoneans,  can  be  no  exception  to  this. 
They  have  been  no  nation  since ;  they  are 
7]0  nation  now:  and  it  is  onlv  in  the   Ja/tpr 


190  RESTORATION    OF    THE  JEWS. 

dmjs  that  thej  can  expect  to  be  a  nation^  and 
that  must  be  a  Christian  nation^ 

"Christ  is  promised  under  the  name  of 
his  progenitor  David^  Isa.  Iv.  3,  4.  Ezek. 
xxxiv.  23,  24.  xxxvii.  24,   25.  Hosea  iii.  5. 

Dr.  Loivth  agrees  with  Dr.  C.  See  Dr. 
Scott. 

2  What  is  written  in  the  10th  verse  has 
not  been  fulfilled  :  "  And  Jacob  shall  return, 
and  shall  be  in  rest,  and  be  in  quiet,  and 
none  shall  make  him  afraid." 

"  No  doubt,"  says  Scott,  "  the  future  resto- 
ration of  that  people  from  their  present  dis- 
persions and  quiet  settlement  in  Canaan, 
will,  in  a  still  more  astonishing  manner,  at- 
test the  same  most  important  truth,  to  the 
conviction  and  conversion  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth." 

3.  As  it  would  be  tedious  to  notice  all  the 
predictions  in  these  chapters  that  have  not 
been,  and  will  be,  fnlfilled,  we  pass  over 
them;  and  merely  remark,  in  regard  to 
chap.  xxxi.  31-34,  that  the  New  Covenant 
has  never,  to  this  day,  been  "  made  with  the 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEREMIAH.  197 

house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Ju- 
dah,"  as  meaut  in  the  prophecy. 

4.  In  vs.  35-36,  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  as  a  nation,  is  made  as  sure  as  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars. 
They  are  a  people  now,  but  not  a  nation ; 
and  they  can  no  more  continue  in  their 
present  dispersed  condition,  till  the  end  of 
time,  than  that  the  siju  shall  cease  to  give 
light  by  day,  and  the  moon  and  stars  by 
night,  to  the  earth,  before  its  end,  in  its 
present  form,  shall  have  arrived. 

5.  Dimensions  are  assigned  to  Jerusalem, 
in  vs.  38-40,  which  it  never  possessed, 
either  under  the  reign  of  David  and  his 
successors,  or  after  it  was  rebuilt  subse- 
quently to  the  deliverance  of  the  Jews  from 
Babylonish  captivity.  Such  enlarged  dimen- 
sions the  city  must  receive. 

VI.  How  far  Jeremiah  understood  Im  own 
predictions,  lue  are  unable  to  tell.  We  know, 
however,  that  liis  vision  was  delightful ;  for 
he  has  told  us  so.  (vr.  26.) 

By  reviewing  these  chapters,  we  may  form 


VJS  KESTUKATIOX  OF  THE  JEWS. 

some  suitable  conception  of  the  extent  of 
his  knowledge. 

What  did  this  prophet,  who  had  been  so 
often  employed  in  delivering  sad  and  mourn- 
ful messages,  see  and  hear  in  his  vision  ? 

Before  we  answer  this  question,  let  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Clarke  on  Chap.  31,  26,  be 
quoted :  "It  appears  that  the  prophecy  com- 
mencing with  chap.  xxx.  vr.  3,  and  ending 
with  vr.  25th  of  this  Chapter,  was  delivered 
to  the  prophet  in  a  dream."  See  also  what 
Dr.  Clarice  says  on  the  2d  verse  of  the  30th 
Chapter. 

He  saw  Jacob  in  distressing  anguish,  like 
a  woman  in  travail^  but  shielded  and  deliver- 
ed from  his  dangers,  by  the  power  of  God ; 
Avho  assured  hhn  of  ultimate  triumph  over 
all  his  enemies  and  oppressors,  and  a  final, 
peaceful,  and  prosperous  settlement  in  the 
land  of  his  forefathers,  (vs.  6-11.) 

He  saw  Jacob  laboring  under  a  disease  in- 
curable by  human  skill,  but  relieved  and 
entirely  cured  by  the  power  of  the  Almighty  ; 
(vs.  12-17  ;)  and  by  the  mediatorial  work  of 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEREMIAH.  199 

the  Messiali  brought  again  into  covenant  rela- 
tion with  Jehovah,  his  God.  (vs.  21,  22.) 

He  saw  Israel  after  suffering  long,  under 
the  whirlwind  of  Divine  anger,  brought  "in 
the  latter  days,"  to  serious  consideration  and 
deep  repentance,  and  "  all  the  families  of  Is- 
rael," reconciled  to  the  Lord,  their  covenant 
God.  (vr.  24,  chap.  xxxi.  1.) 

He  saw  the  mountains  of  Samaria  covered 
with  flourishing  vines,  and  her  inhabitants 
rejoicing  in  plenty,  (vs.  4,  5.) 

He  saw  Ephraim,  the  head  and  represen- 
tative of  the  ten  tribes,  turning  his  face  to 
Zion,  and  exhorting  all  to  return  to  the  true 
worship  of  God ;  and  he  heard  the  command 
of  God  to  publish  the  glad  tidings  to  the 
nations,  (vs.  6-9.) 

He  saw  EacJiel  weeping  for  her  lost  chil- 
dren, but  comforted  by  the  assurance  of 
God,  that  they  should  be  restored  to  her 
from  the  land  of  the  enemy,  (vs.  15-17.) 

He  saw  the  penitence  of  Epliraim,  and  the 
tender  compassion  with  which  God  received 
his  returning  prodigal,  (vs.  18-20.) 


200         KESTOKATION    OF    THE    JEWS. 

He  beheld  the  return  of  justice  and  piety 
to  Israel  and  Judah,  and  their  consequent 
prosperity,  (vs.  23-25.) 

Such  was  the  vision  of  the  prophets.  Ko 
wonder  to  hear  him  say :  "  Upon  this  I 
awaked,  and  beheld  ;  and  my  sleep  was  sweet 
unto  me."  (vr.  26.) 

THE   VISION    EXPLAINED. 

To  enable  the  prophet  the  better  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  his  vision,  he  was 
favored  with  new  revelations  : 

First,  Of  the  great  increase  of  "the  house 
of  Israel,  and  of  the  house  of  Judah  ;■'  and 
of  the  loving  kindness  and  watchful  care 
of  God  over  them.  (vs.  27-30.) 

Secondly,  Of  the  establishment  of  the 
New  Covenant  "  with  the  house  of  Israel, 
and  with  the  house  of  Judah ;  that  would 
secure  to  them  the  writing  of  the  law  on 
their  hearts ;  the  prevalence  of  religious 
knowledge  among  all  ranks  of  people,  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins, — and  a  conduct 
becoming  their  covenant  relation  to  God. 
(vs.  31-34.) 


TESTIMONY  OF  JEREMIAH.  201 

Tiiirdly^  Of  the  perpetuity  of  their  exist- 
ence as  a  nation  in  their  own  land,  (vs.85-37.) 

And  fourthli/ J  and  finally,  of  the  re-build- 
ing of  Jerusalem,  in  extent  and  glory  it  had 
never  possessed  before  ;  "  holy  unto  the 
Lord  ;"  secured  by  the  promise,  "  It  shall 
not  be  plucked  up,  nor  thrown  down  ani/ 
more  forever."  (vs.  38-40.) 

These  additional  revelations  must  have 
shed   oTcat  lioht   on  the  meanino-  of  what 

o  o  o 

the  prophet  had  seen  and  heard  in  his  vis- 
ion ;  and  tended  greatly  to  establish  his 
faith  in  the  wonderful  blessings  which  were 
to  be  bestowed  on  all  Israel,"  in  the  latter 
days." 

How  must  he  have  delighted  to  recall  to 
mind  his  blessed  vision  !  and  what  support 
and  consolation  must  he  and  the  few  pious 
people,  have  derived  from  it,  under  the 
trials  they  were  called  to  endure  ! 

If  the  reader  will  recollect  what  has  been 
said,  in  explaining  the  two  chapters  of  this 
mourning  prophet,  he  will  probabl}-  be  pre- 
pared to  turn  away  his  eyes  from  that  awful 


202  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

doom,  to  wliich  Mr.  Williamson  would  per- 
suade liim  to  believe  that  the  Jews  are  hope- 
lessly consigned,  by  the  teachings  of  inspired 
truth. 

He  will  rejoice  to  say.  It  is  not  so :  the 
Grod  of  mercy  has  rich  blessings  yet  in  store  for 
his  people, — exscinded  indeed  from  his  cove- 
nant, and  punished  for  ages,  and  justly  too, 
for  their  wicked  unbelief,  and  malignant 
treatment  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  persever- 
ing rejection  of  his  gospel  message  of  recon- 
ciliation and  salvation,  through  his  atoning 
sacrifice  ;  but  not  finally  exscinded. 

They  are  yet  to  be  called,  by  rich  and 
sovereign  grace,  to  the  enjoyment  of  that 
*'  New  and  better  covenant,  established  on 
better  promises;" — and  to  enjoy,  as  a  people 
and  as  a  nation^  far  greater  light  and  richer 
privileges,  nearer  approaches  to  God  in  re- 
ligious worship  and  higher  communion  ^vith 
Him ; — and  to  exhibit  a  conduct  more 
exemplary  and  worthy  of  imitation ;  than 
their  fathers  ever  did  ; — and  to  be  established 
in  this  blessed  condition,  by  their  covenant 
God,  till  time  shall  end. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Testimony  of  Ezekiel — Chaps,  xxxiv,  xxxv,  xxxvi, 
xxxvii. 

The  proofs  contained  in  tlie  above  men- 
tioned Chajoters,  are  in  onr  opinion,  conclusive^ 
that  the  Jews  and  the  Israelites  will  be  re- 
stored to  their  own  land,  and  reorganized 
there  as  a  nation,  under  the  reign  of  the 
promised  Messiah. 

The  reader  is  requested  to  bear  in  mind 
that  the  predictions^  contained  in  these  chap- 
ters were  delivered,  about  134  years  after 
the  captui'e  of  Sctmaria^  and  the  dispersion 
of  Israel,  by  the  Assyrians  ;  and  about  one 
or  two  years  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem, 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  carrying  away 
of  its  inhabitants  into  Babylon. 

It  would  be  foreign  from  our  purpose  to 
go  into  an  extended  exposition  of  these 
chapters.  This,  instead  of  strengthening, 
would  weaken   our  argument,  by  divei'tiii.c!: 


204  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

the  mind  of  the  reader  from  the  great  object 
in  view. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  prediction,  in  this  chapter,  which  has 
never  been,  and,  therefore,  remains  to  be, 
fulfilled,  is  found  in  vs.  23-31. 

David,  who  is  promised  as  the  Shepherd 
and*  Pnnce  of  Israel^^  is  certainly  Christ  \hQ 
Messiah.  David  the  king  of  Israel,  had 
long  been  dead,  and  will  remain  in  his  grave, 
till  the  last  day.  He  was  an  eminent  type 
of  the  Redeemer,  and  was  to  be  his  father^ 
in  regard  to  his  human  nature  ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  prophets,  as  shown  above,  call  the 
Messiah  David.  (See  also  Acts  ii.  29-36.) 

"  The  covenant  of  peace,"  spoken  of  in 
the  25th  verse,  has  never  been  made  with 
the  Jews,  as  a  people ;  nor  did  thej  ever  be- 
come an  independent  nation,  nnder  the 
decrees  of  Cyrus  and  his  successors. 

The  terms  in  which  their  safety  and  p/ros- 
perity  are  described.  "*  e  far  too  strong  to 
depict  their  condition  at  any  time  subsequent 

*Israel  is  the  subject  of  the  prediction  ;  see  vs.  2,  .30. 


TESTIMONY  OF  EZEKIEL.         .       205 

to  the  Babylonisli  captivity.  They  have 
ever  since  been  more  or  less  "  a  prey  to  the 
lieathen."  Besides,  the  safety  and  prosperity 
of  Israel  here  predicted,  is  what  they  are 
to  enjoy  under  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ. 
CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  judgments  denounced  against  "  Mount 
Seir,"  or  the  Edomites,  in  vs.  3-6,  were 
brought  upon  them,  at  different  times,  for 
their  unbrotherly  and  wicked  conduct  to- 
wards the  Jews  and  Israehtes.  But  the  predic- 
tion, in  the  seventh  verse  :  "  Thus  will  I  make 
Mount  Seir  most  desolate,  and  cut  off  from  it 
him  that  passeth  out  and  him  that  returneth,* 
was  not  falfilled  till  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  by  the  Eomans.  At  that  tune  the 
Idumeans  were,  according  to  Joseph  almost  as 
as  numerous  as  the  Jews.  (See  Keith  on  the 
prophecies,  p.  138.)  The  same  writer  tells 
us  (p.  140,)  that  Straho  identified  the  N'eba- 
theans  with  the  Idumeans.  And,  by  Goodrich 
we  are  informed  this  people  were  not  finally 
subdued  by  the  Eomans,  till  the  year  106, 
by  their  emperor  Trajan,  (p.  215.) 

*  This  prediction  has  been  proved  by  Keith  to  have  re- 
ceived a  most  remarkable  fulfillment.     Sec  his  treafisf.-. 


206      •     RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

The  reason  of  the  Judgments  denonnced 
against  Mount  Seir,  in  verse  9,  is  assigned 
in  the  next  verse,  :  "  Because  thou  hath 
said,  These  two  nations  and  these  two  coun- 
tries shall  be  mine,  and  we  will  possess  it ; 
where  as  (margin,  though)  the  Lord  was 
there."  Grod  regarded  this  language  as  blas- 
phemous ;  impeaching  his  power  to  restore  to 
Judah  and  Israel  the  land  which  He  had  given 
in  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham,  to  his 
natural  descendants,  ^^ for  an  everlasting  pos- 
session.'''' 

It  is  added,  (v.  11,)  "  Therefore,  as  I  live, 
saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  even  do  accordins; 
to  thine  anger,  and  according  to  thine  envy, 
which  thou  hast  used  out  of  thy  hatred 
against  them." 

Thou  shalt  be  disappointed  in  thy  cove- 
tous and  malicious  desires ;  thou  shalt  not 
possess  the  two  countries.  I  will  restore 
them  to  Judah  and  Israel.  They  shall  pos- 
sess them,  in  more  perfect  safety,  and  in  more 
abundant  fertility  and  prosperity,  than 
ever  before.      And   when   my    judgments 


TESTIMONY  OF  EZEKIEL.  207 

shall  have  been  executed  on  thee,  and  the 
quiet  possession  of  their  covenanted  inher- 
itance, restored  to  them  :  then  "  When  I 
have  judged  thee," — "I  will  make  myself 
known  among  them."  (v.  11.) 

To  mark  the  Divine  displeasure  against 
the  Edomites,  and  the  reasons  of  it,  the 
more  emphatically,  the  prediction  is  repeated 
in  a  different  form  of  words,  in  the  two 
next  verses. 

And  then  to  show  the  certainty  of  the 
execution  of  God's  purpose,  it  is  added  : 
"  When  the  whole  earth  (rather  land  of  Ca- 
naan) rejoiceth,"  under  the  smiles  of  heaven 
and  increased  prosperity,  "  I  will  make  thee 
desolate." 

"  As  thou  didst  rejoice  at  the  inheritance 
of  the  house  of  Israel,  because  it  was  deso- 
late, so  will  I  do  unto  thee  :  "  thou  shalt  be 
desolate,  0  Mount  Seir,  and  all  Idumea,  even 
all  of  it :  and  they  (the  house  of  Israel) 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Loed  :"v.  15.  Jeho- 
vah, the  all-sufiicient  and  self-sufiicient,  the 
immutable  and  covenant  keeping,   and  Al- 


208  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

miglity   God :  able  to   accomplish   all   my 
pleasure,  and  to  fulfill  all  my  promises. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

In  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  the  proph- 
et was  commanded  to  prophesy  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Israel.''^ 

The  heathen  had  taken  possession  of  the 
land  of  Israel.  They  exulted  in  claiming 
it  as  their  own,  and  poured  contempt  on  the 
people  of  God.  In  this  criminal  conduct, 
Idiimea  was  preeminently  guilty ;  displaying 
despite  against  Israel,  and  reproach  against 
Jehovah^  (vs.  1-5.) 

The  wicked  conduct  of  the  heathen  pro- 
voked God's  righteous  indignation.  He 
determined  to  disappoint  their  malignant 
purposes, — to  rescue  the  land  they  had  made 
desolate  from  their  polluted  hands, — to  re- 
store it  to  his  chosen  people  for  a  permanent 
jDOssession, — and  to  bestow  on  it  such  a 
blessing,  as  would  render  it  more  fertile  and 
populous  than  it  had  ever  been  before,  (vs. 
8-11.) 


TESTIMONY  OF  EZEKIEL.  209 

This  prophecy  was  partially  fulfilled,  by 
the  return  of  the  Jews  and  Israelites  from 
Babylon,  and  their  possession  of  part  of  the 
land,  till  they  were  again  expelled  from  it, 
by  the  Komans.  This  direful  calamity 
proves,  that  the  prophet  looked  far  beyond 
that  mournful  event,  and  beyond  the  present 
time,  to  that  blessed  day  when  Israel  shall 
enjoy  the  land  of  their  inheritance,  so  secure- 
ly as  to  be  freed  from  any  annoyance  from 
the  heathen,  and  never  lose  it  again,  while 
time  shall  last.  (vs.  12-15.) 

The  correctness  of  this  interpretation  is 
confirmed  by  the  subsequent  part  of  the 
chapter. 

Here  God  tells  ''  the  house  of  Israel," 
(v.  17,)  that  he  had  "scattered  them  among 
the  heathen,"  and  "  dispersed  them  through 
the  countries ;  on  account  of  their  pollutions 
and  crimes;  (vs.  17-19  ;)  and  that  the 
punishment  which  justice  inflicted  on  them, 
led  the  heathen  to  blaspheme  his  holy  name, 
by  uttering  this  reproachful  speech  :  "  These 
are  the  people  of  the  Lokd,  and  are  gone 
forth  out  of  his  land."  (v.  20.) 


210  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

God  then  declared,  that,  from  a  regard  to 
his  own  holy  name,  and  not  from  respect 
to  their  desert,  He  would  act  in  such  a  way 
as  to  defend  his  great  name  from  reproach, 
and  sanctify  it  in  the  ej'cs  of  the  heathen, 
(vs.  21-23.f 

And  how  was  this  to  be  done  ?  In  a 
marvellons  way  ;  for  God  promised,  not  only 
to  "  gather  them  out  of  all  countries,  and  to 
bring  them  into  their  own  land ;  (v.  24  ;) 
but  to  produce  in  them,  by  his  grace,  such 
a  temper,  heart,  and  conduct,  as  would  qual- 
ify them  to  fulfil  their  covenant  obligations. 
(vs.  25-28.) 

His  temporal  and  spiritual  blessings  would 
have  such  an  effect  on  them,  as  to  lead 
them  to  unfeigned  repentance  and  self-loth- 
ing,  for  their  past  iniquities  and  abomina- 
tions, (vs.  29-31.) 

Such  a  change  in  the  land  of  Israel  would 
be  produced  as  would  lead  beholders  to  ex- 
claim ;  "  This  land  that  was  desolate  is  be- 
come like  the  garden  of  Eden  :  and  the  waste 
and  desolate  and  ruined  cities  are  become 
fenced  and  arc  ii)habitcd."  (vs.  33-85.) 


TESTIMONY    OF    EZEKIEL.  211 

So  conspicuously  would  tlie  liaucl  ot  God 
appear  in  tliis  marvellous  work  wrought  for 
Israel,  tliat  the  heathen  would  be  comjDelled 
to  acknowledge  it  to  be  the  work  of  the  Al- 
mighty :  "  Then  the  heathen  that  are  left 
round  about  you,  shall  know  that  I  the 
Lord  build  the  ruined  'places^  and  plant  that 
that  was  desolate :  I  the  Lord  have  spoken 
it,  and  I  will  do  it:'  (v.  36.) 

Finally,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  Israel  to 
pray  earnestly  for  the  coming  of  this  blessed 
time :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will 
jet  for  this  be  inquired  of  by  the  house  of 
Israel,  to  do  it  for  them:  I  will  increase 
them  with  men  like  a  flock."  (v.  37.) 

And  it  would  be  their  duty  to  recollect 
what  is  Avritten  :  (in  v.  32.)  "  Not  for  your 
sakes  do  I  this,  saith  the  Lord  God,  be  it 
known  unto  you:  be  ashamed  and  con- 
founded for  your  own  ways,  0  house  of 
Israel."  And  to  ascribe  all  the  praise  to 
rich  and  sovereign  grace. 

CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

This  chapter  contains  two  very  forcible 


/ 

212  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

proofs,  that  tlie  interpretation  we  have  as- 
signed to  the  preceding  chapters,  is  correct. 
The  one  is  a  yqtj  str iking  vision;  the  other,  a 
plain  symbolical  illustration. 

Let  the  reader  be  reminded,  that  this,  as 
the  other  chapters,  refers  to  Israel:  "  Then 
he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  the  bones 
are  the  whole  house  of  Israeli  (v.  11, 
See  also  v.  21.') 

The  vision  is  so  plain  as  to  require  no 
comment.  We  may  safely  leave  it  to  the 
perusal  of  the  reader,  (vs.  1-10,)  only  re- 
questing him  to  open  his  Bible,  and  read  it 
attentively. 

The  symbolical  action  is  also  plain.  The 
prophet  was  commanded  to  take  two  sticks ; 
one  marked  "  For  Judah,  and  for  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  his  companions;"  the  other, 
"  For  Joseph,  the  stick  of  Ephraim,  and  for 
all  the  house  of  Israel  his  companions."— 
The  two  sticks  were  to  be  so  adjusted  in  the 
prophet's  hand,  as  to  appear  to  be  but  one 
stick,  (vs.  16-17.) 


TESTIMONY  OF  EZEKIEL.  213 

To  the  people  inquiring  the  meaning  of 
his  action,  in  using  the  two  sticks,  he  was  di- 
rected to  say,  That  God  would  "gather  the 
children  of  Israel,  from  among  the  heathen 
on  every  side,  and  bring  them  into  their 
own  land  ;"  that  he  would  "  make  them  one 
nation  in  the  land  upon  the  mountains  of 
Israel ;"  and  that  "  one  king&\i?i\\  be  king  to 
them  ALL  :  and  they  shall  be  no  more  two 
nations^  neither  shall  they  be  divided  into 
tioo  kingdoms  any  more  at  alV  (vs.  21,  22.) 

The  promise  goes  on  to  say,  "  And  David 
(that  is  Christ,)  my  servant  shall  be  king 
over  them:  and  they  all  shall  have  one 
shepherd  :  (Christ  the  great  shepherd  :)  they 
shall  also  walk  in  my  judgments,  and  observe 
my  statutes,  and  do  them.  And  they  shall 
dwell  in  the  land  that  I  have  given  unto 
Jacob  my  servant,  wherein  your  fathers 
have  dwelt.;  and  they  shall  dwell  therein, 
even  they  and  their  children,  and  their  chil- 
dren's children  forever:  and  my  servant 
David  shall  be  their  lyrince  forever.''''  (vs.  24, 
25.) 


214  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

It  is  added,  "  Moreover  I  will  make  a  cov- 
enant of  peace  with  tliem :  it  shall  be  an 
everlasting  covenant  Avitli  them :  and  I  will 
place  them,  and  mnltiply  them,  and  will  set 
my  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  them  forever 
moreJ''  (v.  26.) 

Other  testimony  might  be  produced  from 
the  Old  Testament  prophets.  Particularly 
strong  evidence  might  be  derived  from  the 
two  next  succeeding  chapters  of  Ezekiel.  But 
we  deem  the  testimony  already  offered  abund- 
antly sufficient  to  sustain  the  position  we 
have  taken.  Leaving,  therefore,  the  in- 
spired writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  we 
invite  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  what 
our  Master  has  said  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

The  testimony  of  Christ — Luke  xxi.  24 — "  Jerusalem 
trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles" — When  will  they  cease  to 
tread  it  down  ? — Answer. 

The  Master  sjDeaks  in  Luke  xxi.  24.  ' '  And 
they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations  : 
and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be 
fulfilled." 

That  the  first  part  of  this  prediction  has 
been  dreadfully  fulfilled,  is  not  to  be  denied 
by  any  one  acquainted  with  history. 

With  like  certainty  has  the  second  jD^rt 
been  fulfilled.  "  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden 
doivn  of  the  Gentiles.'''' 

"  Accordingly  it  has  never  since  been  in 
the  possession  of  the  Jews.     It  was  first  in 


216  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

subjection  to  the  Romans^  afterwards  to  tlie 
Saracens^  then  to  the  Franks^  after  to  the 
Mamelukes^  and  now  to  the  Turhs.  Thus 
has  the  prophecy  of  Christ  been  most  liter- 
ally and  terribly  fulfilled,  on  a  people  who 
are  still  preserved  as  continued  monuments 
of  the  truth  of  our  Lord's  prediction,  and  of 
the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion."  (Dr. 
Clarke  on  Mat.  xxiv.  31  viewed  in  connex- 
ion with  Luke  xxi.  24.) 

Thus  it  appears  beyond  controversy,  that 
Jerusalem  has  been  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles,  for  ages,  more  than  eighteen  centu- 
ries. 

From  the  certain  fulfillment  of  our  Lord's 
prediction,  his  meaning  seems  to  be  very 
plain  ;  that  Jerusalem  will  be  still  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  time  fixed  in 
the  Divine  purpose,  shall  have  arrived :  when 
the  holy  city  is  to  be  delivered  from  their 
power,  and  restored  again  together  with  the 
land  of  Israel,  to  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham ;  to  whom  it  w^as  given  by  covenant 
for  an  "  everlasting  possession."     And  when 


TESTIMONY  OF  GHKIST.  217 

put  in  peaceful  possession  of  it,  they  shall 
hold  it  in  undisturbed  security  to  the  end  of 
the  world. 

But  when  shall  that  time  arrive?  In 
reply,  the  writer  is  prepared  to  say,  that  it 
will  come  when  the  "  Beasf  and  the  false 
prophef  shall  be  "  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of 
fire  burning  with  brimstone ;"  (Eev.  xix. 
20  ;)  and  this  terrible  vengeance  will  be  ex- 
ecuted OIL  Ant i- Christ,  by  a  righteous  God, 
sooner  than  many  able  writers  on  prophecy 
think,  but  not  so  soon  as  others  believe. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  the  writer  to  as- 
sign the  reasons  for  his  belief;  but  if  it 
please  Providence  to  prolong  his  life,  and  pre- 
serve his  faculties  a  year  or  two,  he  may 
undertake  to  point  out  the  time,  with  some 
degree  of  precision,  in  connexion  mth  the 
subsequent  events  that  will  introduce  the 
glorious  reign  of  our  blessed  Lord,  in  its  full 
expansion  of  light  and  gTace,  truth  and  right- 
eousness, peace  and  love,  in  fulfillment  of 
those  joyous  predictions,  recorded  in  Ps.  ii. 
6-12,  and  Isaiah  xi.  &c. 
7" 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Questions  to  the  reader — Difficulties  nothing  to  the  Al- 
mighty— Past  miracles  in  favor  of  the  Jews — No  greater 
needed  A  more  abundant  effusion  of  the  Spirit  will  ac- 
complish God's  promises. 

If  the  reader  have  carefully  read  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  and  carefully  examined 
the  arguments  founded  on  the  inspired 
writings,  he  is  prepared  to  answer  a  question. 
It  is  this  :  Has  the  writer  succeeded  in  es- 
tablishing the  important  points  he  wished  to 
estabhsh  ?     Has  he  proved, — 

First^  That  the  Jews  will,  as  a  people,  be, 
in  future  time,  converted  to  the  Christian 
faith,  and  introduced  into  the  Christian 
Church  ? 

Secondly^  That  they  will  return  to^  the  land 
of  Palestine,  and  will  there,  in  the  land  of 
tlieir  forefiithers,  be  reorganized  into  a  notiov. 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE  READER.    219 

with  as  many  of  tlie  Israelites  as  God  may 
be  pleased  to  collect  with  them  ?     And, 

Thirdly^  That  they  will  be  settled  in  the 
peaceful  and  undisturbed  possession  of  that 
goodly  land,  through  all  their  generations, 
to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  when  the  last  and 
unsuccessful  attack  will  be  made  on  the 
Church  of  God,  by  His  enemies  deluded  by 
Satan  ?  Does  the  reader  assent  to  these  in- 
teresting truths  ? 

Or  startled  at  the  difficulties  in  the  way, 
does  your  faith  falter  ? 

Startled  at  difficulties,  when  the  Almighty 
undertakes  a  work!  What  are  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  Omxipotexce  ?  Before 
Him  mountains  sink  and  vallies  rise.  All 
hearts  are  in  His  hands,  and  as  the  river  of 
water.  He  turns  them  as  He  wills.  "All 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  as  grass- 
hoppers." "Behold,  the  nations  are  as  a 
drop  of  a  bucket,  and  are  counted  as  the 
small  dust  of  the  balance  ;  behold  he  taketh 
up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing."  "  All 
nations  before   him   are  as  nothing ;    and 


220  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

thej  are  counted  to  him  less  than  nothing 
and  vanity.''     (Isaiah  xl.  15,  17,  22.) 

To  accomplish  these  glorious  designs,  in 
behalf  of  his  ancient  people,  no  greater 
miracles  mil  be  needed,  than  those  that  were 
wrought  for  them  many  ages  ago. 

Behold  the  descendants  of  Abraham  re- 
duced in  Egypt  to  the  most  abject  state  of 
slavery.  Becollect  the  wonders  wrought  by 
Moses,  at  God's  command,  to  humble  and 
subdue  the  proud  and  obstinate  heart  of 
Pharaoh,  the  king. 

See  the  degraded  children  of  Jacob  at 
last  marching  triumphantly  out  of  Egypt, 
at  the  urgent  request  of  Pharaoh  and  his 
people.  Behold  them,  guided  by  Divine 
wisdom,  brought  into  new  difficulties  for  the 
purpose  of  being  delivered  by  new  marvels. 

They  are  hemmed  in  by  mountains  on 
either  side  ;  the  red  sea  is  before  them ;  and 
the  infatuated  king  and  his  hosts  are  behind 
them.  They  tremble.  God  commands 
them  to  go  forward.  They  march  ;  and  the 
waters  of  the^  sea  being  piled  up  as  walls  on 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE   HEADER.         221 

both  sides,  tliey  walk  througli  "  the  sea  on 
dry  ground."  The  Egyptians  pursue.  The 
pillar  of  cloud  is  so  arranged,  between  the 
Israelites  and  the  Egyptians,  as  to  give  light 
to  the  former,  and  to  throw  darkness  upon 
the  latter.  Thus  Avere  they  kept  apart  all 
the  night. 

The  Israelites  having  reached  the  opposite 
shore,  "  the  sea  returned  to  his  strength, 
when  the  morning  appeared ;  and  the 
Egyptians  fled  against  it;  and  the  Lord 
overthrew  the  Egyptians  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea."     (Ex.  U  :  19-31.) 

Behold  .this  people  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Sinai.  Jehovah  appears  to  them  in  awful 
grandeur,  and  terrific  majesty.  From  the 
top  of  that  Mount,  amidst  fire  and  darkness, 
thunder  and  ligTitning,  He  speaks  to  them ; 
and,  with  an  audible  voice,  utters  the  ten 
commandments.  They  tremble,  and  entreat 
that  they  may  no  more  hear  that  terrible 
voice,  lest  they  should  die ;  and  beseech 
Moses  to  receive  the  commandments  of  God  ; 
promising  to  obey  all  his   commandments 


222  EESTOEATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

and  statutes.  Even  Moses  trembles  at  the 
awful  sight.  (Heb.  xii.  21.) 

Thej  thirst ;  and  streams  of  water  are 
brought  from  the  flinty  rock  to  allay  their 
thirst.  They  hunger ;  and  manna  descends 
from  heaven  to  feed  them,  in  the  wilderness 
forty  years. 

At  the  appointed  time  they  cross  Jordan  ; 
and,  under  Joshua,  by  marvellous  interposi- 
tions of  God,  take  possession  of  the  promised 
land. 

Time  would  fail  to  sketch  the  many 
and  great  wonders  which  God  afterwards 
wrought  for  his  people,  while  inhabiting 
that  land.     Let  the  reader  recollect  them. 

We  repeat  what  has  been  said  above,  that 
to  accomplish  what  God  designs  for  the  Jews, 
no  greater  miracles  need  be  Avrought  than 
those  wrought  for  the  Israelites  many  ages 
ago. 

Nothing  will  be  required  but  a  larger 
measure  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE  READER.     223 

And  will  not  this  be  granted  ?  Is  it  not 
secured  by  the  New  Covenant  which  God 
promised,  by  the  mouth  of  JeremiaJi,  to 
make  with  the  house  of  Judah  and  the  house 
of  Israel ? 

We  have  seen  that  this  Covenant  has 
already  been  made  with  a  small  part  of  the 
Jews,  and  received  an  incipient  fulfillment ; 
and  that,  when  the  appointed  time  arrives, 
it  will,  according  to  plain  predictions,  receive 
a  more  glorious  fulfillment. 

To  sustain  your  faith,  recollect,  reader, 
the  wonders  wrought,  by  the  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  when 
3,000,  and  among  them  the  crucifiers  of  our 
Lord,  were  converted,  and  baptized,  and 
added  to  the  Church,  in  one  day. 

Eecollect  how  soon  Saul  of  Tarsus,  while 
"  breathino;  out  threatenino;s  and  slaughter 

O  CO 

against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,"  and  while 
on  the  road  to  Damascus  to  persecute  them 
in  that  city,  was  arrested  in  his  mad  career, 
humbled,  and  converted  into  the  great  and 
honored  apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 


224  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Think  of  the  case  of  the  Jailor  at  Philip- 
pi,  who  was  convicted,  converted,  and  bap- 
tized, in  the  same  night. 

And  when  God  shall  again  "  pour  out  his 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh,"  how  easily  can  He 
multiply  indefinitely  cases  of  this  kind  ? 

How  rapidly  the  Jews  will  be  converted 
when  the  marvellous  work  shall  begin,  we 
cannot  determine.  We  only  say,  it  is  our 
belief  that  God  has  so  perfect  a  control  over 
the  spirits  of  all  men,  that,  if  He  please.  He 
could  accomplish  the  work  in  one  year,  and 
indeed  in  one  day.  The  work  of  transfor- 
mation from  unbelief  to  faith,  and  from 
enmity  to  love,  though  it  will  be  rapid,  yet 
may  be  gradual.  The  time  to  be  employed 
in  the  work,  is  a  secret  not  revealed. 

One  question  more.  Is  it  not  an  imjDcra- 
tive  duty  on  Christians  to  pray  for  the  Jews  ; 
and  that  God  would  be  j^leased  to  hasten 
the  fulfilment  of  the  gracious  purposes  He 
has  revealed  in  regard  to  this  once  highly 
honored  people  ? 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE   READER.  225 

How  miicli  we  owe  to  tliem  I  "Who  are 
Israelites ;  to  wliom  pertaineth.  the  adop- 
tion, and  the  glory,  ^and  the  covenants,  and 
the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of 
God,  and  the  promises ;  whose  are  the 
fathers;  and  of  whom,  as  concerning  the 
flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  forever.  Amen."  (Rom.  ix.  4,  5.) 

After  the  record  of  the  blessed  and  glori- 
ous promises  both  of  spiritual  and  temporal 
blessings  made  to  the  house  of  Israel,  in  the 
86th  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  it  is  added,  inverse 
37th,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  I  will 
yet  for  this  be  enquired  of  by  the  house  of 
Israel,  to  do  it  for  them." 

Christians,  true  believers,  are  now,  by 
adoption,  Israehtes ;  and  doubtless,  it  is 
binding  on  them,  as  well  as  on  Abraham's 
natural  descendants,  to  offer  continual  and 
earnest,  and  importunate  prayer  to  God,  to 
hasten  the  accomplishment  of  His  gracious 
purposes  in  favor  of  Israel,  and  to  turn  their 
hearts  to  Himself,  that  they  may  all  become 
the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham,  and  IsraelitRa 
indeed. 


226  RESTORATION   OF  THE  JEWS. 

"We  add  tlie  following  notes  : 

Note  1.  The  Jews  have  for  centuries  believed  the 
thirtieth  Chapter  of  Deuteronomy  to  contain  a  prediction 
and  a  promise  of  their  return  to  the  land  of  their  fore- 
fathers, and  exulted  in  the  prospect.  (See  Pool's  Synop- 
sis.) 

Note  2.  It  is  worthy  of  serious  remark,  that  a  society 
has  recently  been  formed,  in  London,  under  the  influence 
of  this  belief.  The  Presbyterian  of  May  7,  publishes, 
"  Return  of  the  Jews  to  Palestine."  The  London 
Christian  Times  understands  that  a  society  of  Jews  has 
been  formed  in  London,  with  the  view  of  stirring  up  their 
countrymen,  in  all  lands,  to  seek  a  re-possession  of  Pales- 
tine. The  society  is  reported  to  have  been  inaugurated 
under  auspices  which  are  likely  to  command  sympathy  to 
to  a  wide  and  influential  extent." 

On  the  above  article,  we  remark,  that  a  large  number 
of  unconverted  Jews  may  find  their  way  to  their  ancient 
land,  as  well  as  some  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  But 
they  will  not  obtain  the  quiet  and  peaceful  possession  of  it, 
till,  as  a  people,  ih^Y  shall,  with  deep  and  abasing  peni- 
tence on  account  ol  their  long  and  obstinate  unbelief,  and 
^he  great  sin  of  their  forefathers,  in  crucifying  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  acknowledged  Him  to  be  indeed  their  long 
promised  Messiah,  embrace  him  as  their  all-sufficient 
Saviour,  and  worship  him  as  the  true  and  living  God, 
to  whom  is  due  all  possible  honor  and  glory. 

Should  this  volume  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  Jew,  the 
writer  would  earnestly  exhort  him  to  read  and  study,  with 
fervent  prayer  to  God,  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  four- 
teenth chapters  of  their  own  prophet  Zechariah. 


QUESTION  TO  THE  READER.    227 

Note  3.  The  latter  bain.  The  following  fact  is 
worthy  of  being  recorded  in  a  note,  as  indicating  that  the 
time  for  the  return  of  the  Jews  is  approaching.  It  is 
taken  from  A  London  Correspondent  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian of  July  9,  1853. 

*'  In  connection  with  this  subject,  I  may  state  that  Dr. 
Duff,  the  Calcutta  missionary  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land, assured  the  General  Assembly  at  Edingburg,  the 
other  day,  that  for  the  first  time,  since  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  has  '  the  latter  rain'  returned,  last  autumn,  to 
the  Holy  Land  ;  and  as  this  is  predicted  by  the  prophet 
Joel,  in  connection  with  the  return  of  Israel,  and  is,  indeed, 
to  be  one  of  the  great  desideratum  for  the  restoration  of 
the  fertility  of  the  soil  of  Palestine,  it  is  regarded  with  in- 
tense interest  by  the  students  of  prophecy." 


APPENDIX  A. 
I.  The  visible  chuech. 

Concerning  the  Visible  Cliurcli  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
(Chap.  XXV.  ii,)  teaches, 

First^  That  it  is  "  Catholic  or  universal 
under  the  gospel  not  confined  to  one  nation, 
as  before  under  the  law  ;" 

Secondly^  That  it  "  consists  of  all  those 
throughout  the  world,  that  profess  the  true 
religion,  together  with  their  children  ;"  and 

Thirdly,  That  it  "is  the  kingdom  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  house  and  family  of 
God,  out  of  which  there  is  no  ordinary  pos- 
sibility of  salvation." 

Of  coarse,  it  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  or 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  consequently, 
what  is  predicated  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
or  the  kingdom  of  God,  can  be,  with  equal 
propriety,  predicated  of  the  Visible  Church. 


APPENDIX.  229 

See  1  Cor.  iii.  9-17.  Jolin  xv.  2.  Luke 
xii.  81,  32.     Acts  ii.  36,  47.     Rom.  xiv.  17. 

II.  Extracts  from  "the  Home  and 
Foreign  Record  of  tlie  Presbyterian 
Churcli."     June  1853,  pp.  85,  86. 

Theological    Students    and   pious 
parents. 

Providence  is  an  unerring  teacher.  God 
expresses  truth  in  the  execution  of  his  de- 
crees. Are  there  any  facts  to  show  the  con- 
nection between  the  piety  of  parents  and  the 
supply  of  the  ministry?  Let  the  reader 
ponder  upon  this  extract,  taken  from  a  late 
number  of  the  Preshjiarian  : 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  occasional  demon- 
strations of  God's  providence  and  grace,  a 
careful  examination  of  facts  would  abund- 
antly show  that  the  divine  blessing,  as  a 
general  rule,  is  upon  the  seed  of  believers. 
A  very  large  majority  of  ministers  of  the 


230  APPENDIX. 

gospel  are  the  children  of  pious  parents, 
whose  faithful  instructions  and  earnest 
prayers  have  resulted  in  their  conversion 
and  entrance  on  the  ministry.  Almost  all 
the  most  eminent  of  God's  servants,  whose 
biographies  have  been  written,  have  been 
nurtured  by  godly  mothers.  The  piety  of 
the  family  circle  is  the  harvest-ground  for 
the  Church  and  the  ministry.  The  follow- 
ing statistics,  furnished  us  by  a  student  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  will  be  found  interesting,  and  will 
verify  the  principle  that  God  puts  special 
honour  on  the  faithful  training  of  children 
by  his  professing  people. 

"  It  has  been  ascertained,  upon  careful 
inquiry,"  says  our  correspondent,  -'that  of 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty  students  in  this 
Seminary  this  session,  ninety-five  had  both 
parents  pious,  eighteen  had  pious  mothers 
only,  one  a  pious  father  only,  and  five  had 
neither  of  their  parents  pious.  Of  the  whole 
javuD'beT.  twenty -two.  or  ^tpvit  otie- fifth,  wei^ 


APPENDi:C.  231 

sons  of  ministers,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
tlie  remainder  sons  of  ruling  elders. 

The  different  classes  stand  as  follows : 


•5  ~ 

It 

II 

o 

^1 

=  2 

S 

1st  Class  * 

87 

5 

3 

7 

2d  Class, 

26 

8 

1 

2 

5 

8d  Class, 

32 

5 

10 

95 

18 

1 

6 

22 

♦Including  one  resident  graduate. 

THE  BAPTISMAL   COVENANT. 

In  the  covenant  that  God  made  with  Abra- 
ham, on  occasion  of  the  institution  of  the 
rite  of  circumcision,  he  expressly  stipulated 
that  his  favour  should  be  extended  to  the 
children,  also,  of  those  who  loved  him,  and 
kept  his  ordinances.  "I  will  establish  my 
covenent  between  me  and  thee,  and  thy 
seed  after  thee,  in  their  generations,  for  an 
everlasting  covenant,  to  be  a  God  unto  thee, 
and   tliy   seed   after  thc€."     In  o\e.ry  age, 


282  APPENDIX. 

under  the  Christian,  as  well  as  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensation,  God  has  proved  true  to 
this  covenant.  Innumerable  parents,  who 
have  pledged  their  children  to  God  at  his 
altar,  and  have  thus  honoured  his  ordinance 
of  baptism,  have  found  him  a  Father  to 
their  children.  God  has  loved  the  children 
for  their  parents'  sake. 

Some  years  since,  a  hundred  and  twenty 
students,  connected  with  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  ascer- 
tained, by  mutual  inquiries,  that  more  than 
one  hundred  of  theii'  number  were  the  sons 
of  pious  mothers.  Of  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  students,  who,  about  the  same  time, 
were  pursuing  a  course  of  study  for  the  min- 
istry, in  connection  with  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  all  but 
ten  were  the  sods  of  pious  mothers,  and  all 
but  thirty-two  of  pious  fathers  also.  In 
every  case  where  the  father  was  a  member  of 
the  church,  it  was  also  true  of  the  mother. 

For  a  period  often  years,  the  Third  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  have  been  pursuing 


APPE2sDIX.  238 

a  course  of  inquiry  of  the  same  nature. 
Every  candidate  ibr  the  ministry  whom  they 
have  received  under  their  care  during  this 
time,  has  been  asked  to  state  whether  he  was 
the  son  of  pious  parents  or  not.  The  whole 
number  of  candidates  received,  since  the 
rule  was  adopted,  has  been  one  hundred  and 
twenty ;  all  but  twelve  of  whom  have  been 
licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.  Of  the  whole 
number,  one  hundred  and  three  have  been 
the  sons  of  pious  parents.  In  eighty -five 
cases  both  parents  were  pious ;  in  sixteen, 
the  mother  only ;  and  in  tAVO,  the  father 
only.  One  hundred  and  one  had  pious 
mothers.  Several  of  those  who  had  not  the 
privilege  of  a  pious  parent's  supplications, 
were  foreigners,  whose  parents  had  complied 
with  the  customs  of  their  particular  churches, 
and  had  presented  their  children  at  the  sacred 
font. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  in  these  three 
cases,  the  proportion  of  pious  parents  is  very 
nearlv  the  same.  In  the  latter  case  the  stu- 
dents  were  nearly  all  from  the  Theological 


'SS^:  APPENDIX. 

Seminary  at  New  York.  A  remarkable  ac- 
>cordance  is  thus  found  to  have  existed,  as 
regards  this  particular,  in  our  three  princi- 
pal Theological  Institutions.  Whatever 
this  accordance  may  indicate  in  other  respects, 
it  certainly  does  indicate,  that  God  is  mind- 
ful of  his  covenant ;  that  he  does  not  forget 
the  children  of  those  who  believe  in  him ; 
and  that  he  chooses  his  ministers,  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  for  the  most  part,  from  pious  house- 
holds. Thus  he  coniinns  the  word  of  his 
servant  Paul :  "  And  if  ye  be  Christ's,  then 
are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise.'' — New  York  Evangelist. 

III.  Eelative  or  external  holiness. 

The  Bible  speaks  of  two  kinds  of  holiness ; 

Internal,  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
changiijg  the  heart,  and  rendering  the  sub- 
ject of  the  gracious  change,  Jwly,  as  God  is 
holy  ;  and  External  or  relative,  produced  by 
a  peculiar  covenant  relation  existing  between 
God  and  his  rational  creatures. 

This  kind  of  holiness,  it  has  been  proved, 
originated,  not  in  the  establishment  of  the 


APPENDIX.  285 

national  covenant  at  Sinai,  but  in  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant ;  that  had  been  estabhshed 
four  hundred  and  thirty  years  before  the  giving 
of  the  law  of  Moses. 

The  national  covenant,  beins;  established 
in  subserviency  to  that  of  Abraham,  the  re- 
moval  of  its  typical  part,  could  of  course 
produce  no  change  in  the  covenant  it  was 
designed  to  subserve,  but  left  it  unrepealed 
and  unchanged. 

This  covenant  still  embraces  children,  and 
even  unsanctified  adults,  who  make  a  credi- 
ble profession  of  religion. 

Eelative  or  external  holiness,  then,  exists 
under  the  gospel  dispensation. 

The  inspired  writers  teach  this  doctrine. 
Paul  says,  "  For  the  unbelieving  husband  is 
sanctified  by  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving 
wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband ;  else  were 
your  children  unclean ;  but  now  are  they 
hoJyy  (1  Cor.  vii.  14.)  See  Zechariah  xiv. 
20. 

In  fact,  whatever  is  now  devoted  to  God, 
whether  it  be  money,  or  a  house,  or  a  field, 


236  APPENDIX. 

becomes  relatively  holy\  just  as  the  same 
tilings  did  become  so,  under  the  former  dis- 
pensation. 

Jehovah  called  even  the  rulers  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians,  His  "  sanctified  ones :''"' 
"  those  whom  I  have  appointed  and  set  apart 
for  that  service."  {Loivth.)  See  Scott^ 
Isaiah^  xiii.  8.  The  Author. 

APPENDIX  B. 

Extracts  from  Bp.  Newton's  Dissertations 
on  the  Prophecies.     Yol.  I  pp.  120-125. 

"  Section  9.  But  thej  were  not  only 
plucked  off  from  thine  own  land,  but  also  to 
be  dispersed  into  all  nations,  ver.  25.  '  And 
thou  shalt  be  removed  into  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  ;'  and  again,  ver.  64.  '  And  the 
Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people, 
even  from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto 
the  other.'  Nehemiah,  i.  8,  9,  confesseth 
that  these  words  were  fulfilled  in  the  Bab}^- 
lonish  captivity  ;  but  they  have  more  amply 
been  fulfilled  since  the  great  dispersion  of 
the  Jews  by  the  Eomans.  What  people 
indeed  have  been  scattered  so  far  and  wide 


APPENDIX.  287 

as  they  ?  And  where  is  the  nation  which  is 
a  stranger  to  them,  or  to  Avhich  they  are 
strangers  ?  They  swarm  in  many  parts  of 
the  east^  and  spread  through  most  of  the 
countries  of  Europe  and  Africa,  and  there 
are  several  famihes  of  them  in  the  West- 
Indies.  They  circulate  through  all  parts 
where  trade  and  money  circulate,  and  are,  I 
may  say,  the  brokers  of  the  whole  world. 

10.  But  tliough  they  should  be  so  dis- 
persed, yet  they  should  not  be  totally  de- 
stroyed, but  still  subsist  as  a  distinct  people, 
as  Moses  had  before  foretold.  Lev.  xxvi.  44. 
^' And  yet  for  all  that,  when  they  be  in  the  land 
of  their  enemies,  I  will  not  cast  them  away, 
neither  will  I  abhor  them,  to  destroy  them 
utterly,  and  to  break  my  covenant  with 
them.-'  The  Jewish  nation  like  the  bush  of 
Moses,  has  always  been  burning,  but  is  never 
consumed.  And  what  a  marvellous  thing 
is  it,  that  after  so  many  wars,  battles  and 
sieges;  after  so  many  fires,  famines,  and 
pestilences  ;  after  so  many  rebellions,  massa- 
cres, and  persecutions ;  after  so  many  years 


238  APPENDIX. 

of  captivity,  slavery,  and  misery,  they  are 
not  d.strojjed  iitterhj^  and  tliougli  scattered 
among  all  peo]3le,  yet  subsist  as  a  distinct 
people  by  themselves  ?  Where  is  any  thing 
comparable  to  this  to  be  found  in  all  the 
histories,  and  in  all  the  nations  under  the 
sun? 

11.  Ho^vever,  they  should  suffer  much 
in  their  dispersion,  and  should  not  rest  long 
in  any  place,  ver.  Qb.  ''  And  among  these 
nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither  shall 
the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest."  They  have 
been  so  far  from  finding  rest,  that  they  have 
been  baaished  from  city  to  city,  from  coun- 
try to  countr}'.  In  many  places  they  have 
been  banished,  and  recalled,  and  banished 
again.  We  will  only  just  mention  their 
great  banishments  in  modern  times,  and 
from  countries  very  well  known.  In  the 
latter  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  they 
were  banishsd  from  England  by  Edward  I. 
and  were  not  permitted  to  settle  again  till 
Cromwell's  time.  In  the  latter  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  they  were  banished  from 


APPENDIX.  239 

France  (for  the  seventh  time,  says  Mezeray) 
by  Charles  VI.  and  ever  since  they  have 
been  only  tolerated,  they  have  not  enjoyed 
entire  liberty,  except  at  Metz,  where  they 
have  a  synagogue.  In  the  latter  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  they  were  banished  from 
Spain  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  ;  and  ac- 
cording to  Mariana,  there  were  a  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  families,  or  as  some  say, 
eight  hundred  thousand  persons  who  left 
the  kingdom  :  Most  of  them  paid  dearly  to 
John  II.  for  a  refuge  in  Portugal,  but  within 
a  few  years  were  expelled  from  thence  also 
by  his  successor  Emanuel.  And  in  our 
own  time,  within  these  few  years,  they  were 
banished  from  Prague  by  the  Queen  of  Bo- 
hemia. 

12.  "  They  should  be  oppressed  and  spoiled 
everraore ;  and  their  houses  and  vineyards, 
their  oxen  and  asses  should  be  taken  from 
them,  and  they  should  '  be  only  oppressed 
and  crushed  alway,'  ver.  29,  &c.  And  what 
frequent  seizures  have  been  made  of  their 
*>ffeci«  iD  almost  all   countries  ?     How  often 


240  APPENDIX. 

have  they  been  fined  and  fleeced  by  almost 
all  governments?  How  often  have  they 
been  forced  to  redeem  their  lives  with  what 
is  almost  as  dear  as  their  lives,  their  treas- 
ure ?  Instances  are  innumerable.  We  will 
only  cite  an  historian  of  our  own,  who  says 
that  Henry  IH.  '  always  j^olled  the  Jews  at 
every  low  ebb  of  his  fortunes.  One  Abra- 
ham, who  was  found  delinquent,  was  forced 
to  pay  seven  hundred  marks  for  his  redemp- 
tion. Aaron,  another  Jew,  protested  that 
the  king  had  taken  from  him  at  times  thirty 
thousand  marks  of  silver,  besides  two  hun- 
marks  of  gold,  which  he  had  presented  to 
the  queen.  And  in  like  manner  he  used 
many  other  of  the  Jews.'  And  when  they 
were  banished  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 
their  estates  were  confiscated,  and  immense 
smiis  thereby  accrued  to  the  crown. 

18.  "Their  sons  and  their  daughters 
should  be  given  unto  another  people,"  ver. 
32.  And  in  several  countries,  in  Spain  and 
Portugal  particularly,  their  children  have 
been  taken  from  them  by  order  of  the  gov- 
ernment, to  b(;  educated  in  the  popish  relig- 


APPENDIX.  241 

ion.  The  fourtli  council  of  Toledo,  ordered 
that  all  their  children  should  be  taken  from 
them  for  fear  they  should  partake  of  their  er- 
rors, and  that  they  should  be  shut  up  in  monas- 
teries, to  be  instructed  in  the  Christian  truths. 
And  when  they  were  banished  from  Portu- 
gal, '  the  king,'  says  Mariana,  '  ordered  all 
their  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age, 
to  be  taken  from  them,  and  baptised ;  a 
practice  not  at  all  justifiable,'  adds  the  histo- 
rian, '  because  none  ought  to  be  forced  to 
become  Christians,  nor  children  to  be  taken 
from  their  parents.'  " 

14.  "  '  They  should  be  mad  for  the  sight 
of  their  eyes  which  they  should  sec,"  ver.  34. 
And  into  what  madness,  fury  and  desperation 
have  they  been  pushed  by  the  cruel  usage, 
extortions,  and  oppressions  which  they  have 
undergone  ?  We  will  alledge  only  two  in- 
stances, one  from  ancient,  and  one  from 
modern  history.  After  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus,  some  of  the  worst  of 
the  Jews  took  refage  in  the  castle  of  Masada, 
where  being  closely  besieged  by  the  Romans^ 


242  APPENDIX. 

the}^,  at  the  persuasion  of  Eleazer  their 
leader,  first  murdered  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, then  ten  men  was  chosen  by  lot  to 
slay  the  rest ;  this  being  done,  one  of  the 
ten  was  chosen  in  like  manner,  to  kill  the 
other  nine,  which  having  executed,  he  set 
fire  to  the  place,  and  then  stabbed  himself 
There  were  nine  hundred  and  fifty  who 
perished  in  this  miserable  manner ;  and 
only  two  women  and  five  boys  escaped  by 
hiding  themselves  in  the  aqueducts  under 
ground.  Such  another  instance  we  have  in 
our  English  history.  For  in  the  reign  of 
Eichard  the  first,  when  the  people  were  in 
arms  to  make  a  general  massacre  of  them, 
fifteen  hundred  of  them  seized  on  the  city 
of  York  to  defend  themselves ;  but  being 
besieged,  they  offered  to  capitulate,  and  to 
ransom  their  lives  with  money.  The  offer 
being  refused,  one  of  them  cried  in  despair, 
that  it  was  better  to  die  couragiously  for  the 
law,  than  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Chris- 
tians. Every  one  took  his  knife,  and  stabbed 
his  wife  and  children.     The  men  afterwards 


APPENDIX.  243 

retired  into  the  kiiig's  palace,  which  they 
set  ou  lire,  in  which  they  consumed  them- 
selves, with  the  palace  and  furniture." 

15.  " '  They  should  serve  other  gods, 
wood  and  stone,"  ver.  36 ;  and  again  ver. 
64.  '  they  should  serve  other  gods,  which 
neither  they  nor  their  fathers  had  known, 
even  wood  and  stone."  And  is  it  not  too 
common  for  the  Jews  in  Popish  countries  to 
comj)ly  with  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the 
church  of  Kome,  and  bow  dowm  to  stocks 
and  stones  rather  than  their  effects  should 
be  seized  and  confiscated?  Here  again  we 
must  cite  the  author,  who  hath  most  studied, 
and  hath  best  written  their  modern  history, 
and  whom  we  have  had  occasion  to  quote 
several  times  in  this  discourse." 

"  '  The  Spanish  and  Portugal  Inquisitions, 
saith  he,  reduce  them  to  the  dilemma  of 
being  hypocrites  or  burnt.  The  number  of 
these  dissemblers  is  very  considerable  ;  and 
it  ought  not  to  be  concluded,  that  there  are 
no  Jews  in  Spain  or  Portugal,  because  they 
are   not  known  :     They  are   so  raucli  the 


244  APPENDIX. 

more  dangerous,  for  not  only  being  very 
numerous,  but  confounded  with  the  ecclesias- 
ties,  and  entering  into  all  ecclesiastical  digni- 
ties.' In  another  place  he  saith,  '  The  most 
surprising  thing  is,  that  this  religion  spreads 
from  generation  to  generation,  and  still 
subsists  in  the  persons  of  dissemblers  in  a 
remote  posterit}^  In  vain  the  great  Lords 
of  Spain  make  alliances^  change  their  names^ 
and  take  ancient  scutcheons;  they  are  still 
known  to  he  of  Jewish  race,  and  Jews  themselves^ 
The  convents  of  monks  and  nuns  are  fidl  of 
them.  Most  of  the  canons^  inquisitors,  and 
bishoj^s  proceed  from  this  nation.  This  is 
enough  to  make  the  people  and  clergy  of 
this  country  tremble,  since  such  sort  of 
churchmen  can  only  profane  the  sacraments, 
and  want  intention  ot  concecrating  the  host 
they  adore.  In  the  mean  time  Orobio,  who 
relates  the  fact,  knew  these  dissemblers. 
He  was  one  of  them  himself,  and  bent  the 
knee  before  the  sacrament.  Moreover  he 
brings  proof  of  his  assertion,  in  maintaining, 
that  there  are  in  the  synagogue  of  Amster- 
dam, brothers  and  sisters  and  near  relation 


APPENDIX.  246 

to  good  families  of  Spain  and  Portugal :  and 
even  Franciscan  monks,  Dominicans,  and 
Jesnits,  who  come  to  do  penance,  and  make 
amends  for  the  crime  they  have  committed 
in  dissembling.'  " 

16.  "'They  should  become  an  astonish- 
ment, a  proverb,  and  a  by-word  among  all 
nations,'  ver.  87.  And  do  we  not  hear  and 
see  this  prophecy  falfilled  almost  every  day  ? 
Is  not  the  avarice,  usury,  and  hard-hearted- 
ness  of  a  Jew  grown  proverbial  ?  And  are 
not  their  persons  generally  odious  among  all 
sorts  of  people  .^  Mohammedans,  Heathens, 
and  Christians,  however  they  may  disagree 
in  other  points,  yet  generally  agree  in  vilify- 
ing, abusing  and  persecuting  the  Jews,  In 
most  places  where  they  are  tolerated,  they 
are  obliged  to  live  in  a  separate  quarter  by 
themselves,  (as  they  did  here  in  the  Old 
Jury)  and  to  wear  some  badge  of  distinction. 
Their  very  countenances  distinguish  them 
from  the  rest  -of  mandkind.  They  are  in 
all  respects,  treated  as  if  they  were  of  another 
species.  And  when  a  great  master  of  na- 
ture would  draw  the  portrait  of  a  Jew,  how 


246  APPENDIX. 

detestable  a  character  hath  he  represented  in 
the  person  of  his  Jew  of  Venice.'''' 

17.  Finally,  " '  their  plagnes  should  he 
wonderful,  even  great  plagues,  and  of  long 
continuance,'  ver.  49.  And  have  not  their 
plagues  continued  now  these  1700  years? 
Their  former  captivities  Avere  ver}^  short  in 
comparison :  and  Ezekiel  and  Daniel  prophe- 
sied in  the  land  of  the  Chald^eans ;  but  now 
they  have  no  true  prophet  to  foretell  an  end 
of  their  calamities,  they  have  not  only  false 
Messiahs  to  delude  them  and  aggravate  their 
misfortunes.  In  their  former  captivities 
they  had  the  comfort  of  being  conveyed 
to  the  same  place ;  they  dwelt  together  in 
the  land  of  Goshen,  they  were  carried  to- 
gether to  Babylon  ;  but  now  they  are  dis- 
persed all  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  What 
nation  hath  suffered  so  much,  and  yet  en- 
dured so  long  ?  What  nation  hath  subsisted 
as  a  distinct  people  in  their  own  country  so 
long  as  these  have  done  in  their  disj)ersion 
into  all  countries?  And  what  a  standing 
miracle  is  this  exhibited  in  the  view  and 
observation  of  the  whole  world  ?" 


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